Taking Labour Foward

Decisions about Scottish Labour will be made in Scotland, nowhere else, according to Jim Murphy.

In a speech to local Scottish Labour Party members in his constituency today, the leadership candidate will say the party must take more responsibility for fundraising, policy, staffing and campaign activity.

In a sign of the changes that he intends to make, Mr Murphy will announce that if elected Scottish Labour leader, the £155,000 levy currently paid to the UK Party by Scottish Labour councillors will stay in Scotland. Mr Murphy has written to Iain McNicol, the UK Party General Secretary, to outline his intentions. 

Today at least 2% of the salary of each Scottish Labour councillor is deducted and sent to the UK Party to support campaigning work. However, for many years Scottish Labour councillors have been frustrated at what they believe is a lack of value for money.

Jim Murphy will announce that under his leadership that would change, and that the money would instead be used exclusively by the Scottish Labour Party.

The leadership candidate will announce a 5-person commission, made up of the leaders of Glasgow City Council, North Lanarkshire Council and Aberdeen City Council. Mr Murphy will also appoint a supporter of each of the other two leadership candidates to serve as part of the team to recommend how to spend the money in Scotland. The work of the commission will begin on 15 December and will report back to the leader within two months.

Jim Murphy will also pledge:

- The Scottish Labour General Secretary will be hired by the Scottish Labour leader, as will all Scottish party staff; 

- To set an unprecedented fundraising target of £1 million by the time of the 2015 General Election, through increased donations from trade unions, businesses and individuals, as well as attracting more members to the party;

- To invest at least £5,000 in each Scottish and UK Parliamentary seat currently held by Scottish Labour and in the key target seats we want to win back in 2016;

- To employ at least one paid organiser in every Scottish Parliament region, supporting the work of local party groups;

- To appoint a representative of Scottish Labour’s councillors to the political cabinet;

- To implement a radical culture change in the way Scottish Labour campaigns, moving toward an all-year round campaigning party rather than just an election vote winning machine.

Jim Murphy will say:

"I want the Scottish Labour Party, under my leadership, to be driving the change that Scotland needs. But before we can get behind the wheel, our party needs to reform itself. Before we can change Scotland we need to transform the Scottish Labour Party.

"We will always value our links to the UK Labour Party. Only the Labour Party, not the nationalists, can win elections at a UK level.

"But valuing those links doesn’t mean we can't do things our own way. 

"People should be in no doubt. If I am elected leader decisions about policy and how the Scottish Labour Party is run will be taken in Scotland, nowhere else. 

"We need to show to people that we are a party that puts Scotland first. One way of doing this is by keeping the money paid by Scottish Labour councillors in Scotland to support our campaigning work here.

"The Scottish Labour Party must be an all year round campaigning organisation, rather than just for a few weeks at election time. We should be front and centre of local campaigns to improve our communities, not just asking for votes. That's a big culture shift for our Party but one that is necessary if we are to be successful over the next few years.

"We owe it to the people in Scotland who need the Scottish Labour Party to be a professional, effective and confident campaigning party. To do this we need greater resources. We need to be able to compete with nationalists funded by Lottery winners and Tories funded by deep pockets. 

"If I am elected leader I will set an unprecedented target of raising £1 million to support the work of the Scottish Labour Party. I will raise more money for our party than ever before – from trade unions, businesses, individuals and by attracting more members to our party."

Mr Murphy is up against MSPs Neil Findlay and Sarah Boyack for the top job.