---
election_year: 2015
party_id: scottish-labour
party_name: Scottish Labour Party
party_leader: Jim Murphy
political_spectrum: centre-left
victory: false
government_outcome: opposition
sections:
  - economy
  - taxation
  - health
  - education
  - housing
  - immigration
  - defence
  - foreign-policy
  - law-and-order
  - welfare
  - democracy-and-constitution
  - devolution
  - local-government
---

# Scottish Labour Party Manifesto 2015

## Contents
* Foreword by Jim Murphy
* Foreword by Ed Miliband
* A better future for Scotland
* Building an economy that works for working people
* Providing world class health and education services
* Helping our families and communities to thrive
* Reforming government to give more power to people
* Standing up for Britain's interests in Europe and the world
* Time for change

Scotland only succeeds when working people succeed. This is a plan to reward hard work, share prosperity and build a better and fairer Scotland. It’s a plan for Scotland that will make a real difference to you and your family.

Ours is a Scotland of remarkable stories. Scots of creativity, of passion, of community and of compassion that have shaped the world over the ages, and can do again in the future. We believe in our country, we believe in a sense of optimism, we have a confidence in our nation.

We can make Scotland the fairest nation on earth.

## Labour's Manifesto Budget Responsibility Lock

Our manifesto begins with the Budget Responsibility Lock we offer the British people. It is the basis for all our plans in this manifesto because it is by securing our national finances that we are able to secure the family finances of the working people of Britain. The Budget Responsibility Lock guarantees that: Every policy in this manifesto is paid for. Not one commitment requires additional borrowing. We are the first party to make that pledge and with this manifesto it is delivered. We will legislate to require all major parties to have their manifesto commitments independently audited by the Office for Budget Responsibility. A Labour government will cut the deficit every year. The first line of Labour’s first Budget will be: “This Budget cuts the deficit every year”. This manifesto sets out that we will only lay a Budget before the House of Commons that cuts the deficit every year, which the OBR will independently verify. We will get national debt falling and a surplus on the current budget as soon as possible in the next parliament. This manifesto sets out that we will not compromise on this commitment.

## Foreword

Scotland is desperate for change. We know the last few years haven’t been good enough. This manifesto sets out details of our plan. What we will do to make the change. We believe in a successful and strong economy, where the benefits of wealth creation are felt by all. That’s why we will not only raise the minimum wage and promote the Living Wage, we will abolish exploitative zero-hours contracts. We want people’s wages to go further so we will tackle the cost of living with a cap on rent rises and a freeze on energy bills. We will put decency back into the welfare state by ending unfair targets for sanctions. We will abolish the bedroom tax and end the need for food banks in Scotland. We will give hope again to our young people. We will tax bankers’ bonuses to guarantee a job and training for young people. We will keep university tuition free in Scotland and give the poorest students an extra £1000 on their bursaries. For those who don’t go into university, college or an apprenticeship we’ll invest £1,600 in their future. We will protect the NHS by taxing tobacco companies, making sure hedge funds pay their fair share of tax and by introducing a Mansion Tax on properties worth over £2 million. For starters, we will use this money to employ a thousand more nurses in Scotland’s NHS. We will devolve extensive new powers to the Scottish Parliament in Labour’s Home Rule Bill, making itone of the most powerful devolved Parliaments in the world. This will mean new powers over tax, jobs and welfare. It will also mean new powers over borrowing. We will set out how we will use these powers in the best interests of Scotland in the next year. All this is only possible with an end to failed Tory austerity. We will make sure Scotland gets our fair share of the new investment a Labour Government will provide by keeping the Barnett formula that shares resources between South and North. We reject the SNP’s plan to cut Scotland off from taxes from across the rest of the UK and for all public services in Scotland to be paid for only by taxes in Scotland. The way to guarantee change, to deliver the plan we set out here, and to guarantee

## Foreword by Ed Miliband

We are a great country. With great people. In the last five years I have heard your stories, your hopes and your dreams. And I have heard too your frustrations about our country. The countless people working as hard as they possibly can and still struggling to pay the bills. The young people with great ambitions but great anxieties about the future. The dedicated staff of our NHS, who are deeply concerned about its condition and its future. And all those who have served our country and are now retired, who ask me where our country is going. This manifesto is inspired by you. I take a simple view. We are a great country, but we can be even better. The fundamental truth that runs through this manifesto is that Britain can only succeed when working people succeed. It is an idea at the heart of my beliefs. And it drives our better plan for a better future. It means a country where hard work is rewarded, with high skill, high wage jobs. An economy built on strong and secure foundations, where we balance the books. It means building a future for all our young people, so they can get world-class apprenticeships and access to affordable, higher education. It means strong public services, rescuing our NHS. It means strong communities, where power is shared by people in every part of the country and where we respond to people’s concerns about immigration with proper controls. It means a Britain where everyone plays by the same rules, including those at the very top of our society. And it means an outward looking country, engaged in the world for our national interest. For me, the privilege of serving as Prime Minister in our country would be for one purpose: to help working people succeed.

## A better future for Scotland

This manifesto sets out Labour’s plan for changing Scotland. It is built on a simple principle: when working people succeed,

Scotland succeeds.

Over the past five years, working people across Scotland have suffered under the Tories. We are going to end Tory austerity and reverse the damage they have done. We believe that for working people to succeed, our whole country has to change. For too long it has been working for a few people at the top instead of the vast majority. But across Scotland working people also know a simple truth: the economy is not working for them. For years now, our economy has not rewarded everyone who put in a good, honest day’s work. However hard people work, many don’t earn enough to make ends meet. Too many have been driven from secure, full-time work into precarious, badly paid jobs, many working on zero-hours contracts. Time to enjoy with friends and family is increasingly squeezed as mothers and fathers juggle the demands of work and caring for children and often an older relative. The problems mount for the next generation too. Nearly one sixth of our young people in Scotland are out of work. Many have lost the opportunity for a second chance at college because of the SNP’s cuts, and bursary support for our poorest young people who want to go to university has gone into reverse. Our young men and women have been shutout of the housing market and too often they are forced to leave the communities where they were brought up.

Our economy and our system of government are failing too many people. Many have come to believe that politics ignores the things that matter to them. Too much power is unaccountable, concentrated in the market and the state, at the expense of individuals and their communities. Devolution has been a great success story in Scotland, but we now need to look to the next stage of devolution - more power for the Scottish Parliament as well as decisions brought closer to people in their villages, towns and cities. Many of these problems have been mounting for many years. Some, like the rise of inequality, are felt in countries all around the world. So the Conservatives did not cause all of them but they have made them far worse. Their view is that economic success depends juston a few at the top. They think that insecurity will make people work harder and that low pay is the only way to be competitive in the global market. They don’t believe we can afford decent public services when times are hard. They have been giving power to large unaccountable firms rather than to people, and now they want to make deeper cuts in the next three years than we have seen in the last five years. There are some who believe there is nothing we can do to change things for the better. They feel powerless. They are losing faith that those with power will ever listen to them. We understand these feelings. But we believe we can renew our country and make a better future for working people. We have learned the lessons of the past. We were in government for thirteen years and left the country a far better place to live in. But we did not get everything right. We have learned and we have changed. Labour is renewing our traditions as the Party of work, family and community. We believe in a society of trust and mutual obligation, in which we look after the vulnerable, and people can bring up their families with hope for a better future. And we believe in helping people to help themselves, both to improve their own communities, and to achieve their ambitions.

We are also the Party of equality. We believe that no person should suffer discrimination or a lack of opportunity. The decisions we take in government will always be taken with this in mind. The policies in our manifesto will help remove the barriers that stand in the way of greater equality. We know we achieve more when we work together to challenge inequalities of power and build a common good. In this election, the country has a choice. We can continue with a Conservative plan based on the view that success comes only from a privileged few at the top. Or we can change direction, begin to return power to people and build an economy together in which everyone can contribute to a shared and enduring prosperity. As the economy at last recovers, people want the opportunity to use their skills and talents to make a better life for themselves and their children. Our country’s greatest asset is the hard work and talentof our people. Labour’s plan is to build firm economic foundations for creating wealth, rewarding hard work and competing in the world. We will balance the books by cutting the deficit every year, with a surplus on the current budget and with national debt falling as soon as possible in the next Parliament. This will need common sense spending reductions, outside of the protected areas of health, education and international development. We will ask those with incomes over £150,000 a year to contribute a little more through a 50p rate of tax. And we will build the high-skill, high-wage economy we need to raise tax revenues and control social security spending.

## Building an economy that works for working people

### Backing small business

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Their creativity and dynamism are vital for raising productivity and competing in the global economy. We will address rising costs for small businesses and strengthen rules on late payment. We will develop a banking system that works for every sector and every part of our country. The long-standing problems of our banking system mean that too many small and medium-sized businesses cannot get the finance they need to invest and grow. Labour will establish a British Investment Bank with the mission to help businesses grow and to create wealth and jobs. It will have the resources to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses, and will support a network of regional banks. We will increase competition on the high street. Following the Competition and Market Authorities inquiry we want a market share test and at least two new challenger banks. And we will deal with the scourge of household debt by introducing a new levy on payday lenders, using the funds raised to boost low cost alternatives like credit unions.

### Better work and better pay

Scotland’s route to prosperity and higher living standards is through more secure and better paid jobs. But Conservative policies are causing whole sectors of the economy to be dragged into a race to the bottom on wages and skills. The Government has weakened employment rights and promoted a hire-and-fire culture. Labour believes our economy can only succeed in a race to the top, competing in the world with better work, better pay and better skills.

Too many people do a hard day’s work but remain dependent on benefits. We will raise the National Minimum Wage to more than £8 an hour by October 2019, bringing it closer to average earnings. We will devolve more power to the Scottish Government and Scottish local authorities to strengthen enforcement against those paying less than the legal amount. And we will support employers to pay more by using government procurement to promote the Living Wage, alongside wider social impact considerations. Our Make Work Pay contracts will give tax rebates to businesses that sign up to paying the Living Wage in the first year of a Labour Government. We will establish a Living Wage Unit in the Scottish Government to promote the Living Wage and will work with employers and trade unions to extend the uptake of the Living Wage, particularly in the private sector. Publicly listed companies will be required to report on whether or not they pay the Living Wage. It is hard for Scotland to succeed when employees feel insecure and employers are undercut by those using exploitative working practices. Labour will ban exploitative zero-hours contracts. Those who work regular hours for more than twelve weeks will have a legal right to a regular contract. We will abolish the loophole that allows firms to undercut permanent staff by using agency workers on lower pay. The Conservatives have introduced fees of up to £1,200 for employment tribunal claimants, creating a significant barrier to workplace justice. We will devolve administration of tribunals to Scotland, and will review the system to ensure that affordability is not a barrier to workers having proper access to justice, employers get a quicker resolution, and the costs to the tax payer do not rise. Labour is the party of work, and we value working life. We will push up standards and boost productivity by implementing the commitments in Scottish Labour’s Workplace and Business manifestos.

### Supporting the next generation

Almost one in six of our young people are locked out of the labour market. Too many of them don’t have the skills they need for work. They are trapped in a

Labour will tax bankers’ bonuses to get our young people back to work by introducing a Scottish Jobs Guarantee for all of Scotland’s young people. It will provide a paid starter job and training for every 18-24 year old out of work for over a year. For those who choose to go to University, Labour will ensure that there will be no tuition fees for Scottish residents. We will start to reverse the cuts to college funding in Scotland with £100 million of investment. Support for our young people should not just extend to those who choose to go to College or University. All Scotland’s young people deserve the best start in life. The next Labour Scottish Government will establish a £1,600 Future Fund for every 18 and 19 year old not in college, university, or undertaking a Modern Apprenticeship. This will be funded by the Barnett consequentials resulting from cuts to tuition fees that Labour will introduce in England. Young people who do not have the skills they need should be in training, not on benefits. We will replace out of work benefits for 18 to 21-year-olds with a new Youth Allowance dependent on recipients being in training and targeted at those who need it most. We will support apprenticeships. Every firm getting a major UK Government contract will be required to offer apprenticeships. Large employers hiring skilled workers from outside the EU will have to offer apprenticeships, and we will create thousands more apprenticeships in the public sector, including the civil service. In Scotland, we will offer free bus travel to all apprentices. We will tackle the growth of unpaid internships because thousands of highly able young people who cannot afford to work for free are locked out of too many of our professions.

### Mending the markets that people rely on

Labour will stand up for working families and businesses against vested interests. We will reform the broken markets that people rely on most so that

## Providing world class health and education services

For those young people who want to go to College, and not University, the cuts to Scotland’s colleges has deprived 140,000 potential students the opportunity of further education. Scottish Labour believes that our young people should be supported to get the best start in life. No matter whether they decide to go to University, College or go straight to work, all young people should get the best education at school and then the support they need to have a productive life when school ends. Scottish Labour will legislate to end educational inequality in a generation. We will close the attainment gap by 2025 by investing £125 million more in education over the course of the next Parliament to close the gap. We will invest £36 million to improve the reading and writing ability of Scotland’s children. We will employ 200 literacy teachers and we will focus their work in the communities with the twenty secondary schools and associated primary schools where working class kids have been most left behind by the SNP Government. And we will support the parents of these children to ensure they have the reading and writing skills they need to support their children. Too many children in Scotland start the day on an empty stomach. This affects how they perform at school. Giving pupils a filling and healthy breakfast sets them up for the day, improving their concentration and ability to learn. As well as improving children’s health and tackling social inequalities, breakfast clubs can improve children’s health, attendance, punctuality and educational performance at school.

Funded by a UK-wide mansion tax, Scottish Labour will establish breakfast clubs in the associated primary schools of the twenty secondary schools in Scotland facing the greatest challenges. Our pilot programme will focus on raising standards and tackling educational disadvantage at an early age and will be a model of success for transforming under-achieving classrooms across Scotland. We will re-introduce Chartered Teacher status to encourage excellence in the teaching profession. And we will place a statutory obligation on the Scottish Government to report progress annually to parliament and plan a similar obligation on local authorities. We also want all of our children to discover the joy of reading. We will establish the First Minister's Reading Prize, modelled on the Premier's Reading Challenge in South Australia, to encourage children to read. Where best practice is identified, we should ensure it is spread through all our schools. We will establish a National Centre of Excellence for Education to ensure that best practice is shared, and that teachers, head teachers, schools and local authorities learn from each other. We will make Scotland’s universities open and accessible for all and maintain free university tuition. But we will go further. Access to higher education is not just determined by the level of fees – the best financial support possible has to be provided. That is why we will reverse the SNP’s cuts to student bursaries for the poorest and reinstate them to their highest level. Success for our young people should not be restricted to those who carry on in further or higher education. Everyone should get the support they need to succeed. We will create a £1600 Future Fund for every 18 and 19 year old not in further or higher education or undertaking a Modern Apprenticeship.

This will give young working class people extra support to get a better start in life. It will also provide employers with a powerful incentive to employ more working class young people, with the Future Fund available to be spent on training.

Labour will:
* Protect the NHS budget in Scotland and deliver an additional £1 billion investment to fund 1000 extra NHS nurses and 500 extra GPs.

* Create a Cancer Fund worth £200 million to ensure patients have access to the best treatments and drugs available.
* Create a new Mental Health Fund worth £200 million to invest in Scotland’s mental health services focusing on prevention and early intervention.
* Maintain free tuition at Scotland’s universities.
* Reverse SNP cuts to HE bursaries and reinstate them to their highest level for the poorest students.
* Introduce a £1600 Future Fund for everyone not in College, University or a Modern Apprenticeship, to give them the best start in life.
* Invest £125 million in our schools to help working class kids.
* End educational inequality in a generation.
* Place a statutory obligation on the Scottish Government to report the gap between children from lower and higher income backgrounds.
* Establish breakfast clubs in Scottish schools facing the most challenges.

We have taken the tough choice to restrict Winter Fuel Payments for the richest five per centof pensioners, but we will guarantee that there will be no additional changes to the Winter Fuel Payments, free TV licences, or bus passes for pensioners in Scotland. Alongside a decent state pension we must ensure private pensions are good value for those who have saved. We will reform the pensions market so that pension providers put savers first, and protect consumers from retirement rip-offs. We support greater flexibility for those drawing down their pension pots, but there must be proper guidance for people to avoid mis-selling.

## Helping our families and communities to thrive

### Controlling immigration with fair rules

For our country to stay strong, with the confidence to look outwards rather than inwards, people need to feel secure in the strength of our borders, our communities and in the workplace. Britain has seen historically high levels of immigration in recent years, including low skilled migration, which has given rise to public anxiety about its effects on wages, on our public services and on our shared way of life. Despite the Conservatives’ promise to reduce net migration to tens of thousands, it is now higher than it was when David Cameron entered Downing Street. Broken promises erode trust. Labour will never cut Scotland off from the rest of the world. Our economy and our society benefit from the talent and investment of people who come here, including university students coming to study. But the system needs to be controlled and managed so that it is fair. Low skilled migration has been too high and needs to come down. We need much stronger action to stop illegal immigration.

Labour’s plan starts with stronger borders. We will recruit an additional 1,000 borders staff paid for by a small charge on non-visa visitors to the UK. We will introduce stronger controls to prevent those who have committed serious crimes coming to Britain and to deport those who commit crimes while they are here. We will introduce full exit checks, so that we can count people in and out of the country. Short-term student visitor visas have dramatically increased, so we will tighten the system to prevent abuse, whilst welcoming overseas university students who bring billions into Britain. And we will keep the cap on workers from outside the EU. We need fair rules at work to prevent the exploitation of migrant workers, which undercuts local wages and increases demand for further low skilled migration. Labour will introduce a new law to stop employers undercutting wages by exploiting workers. We will ban recruitment agencies from hiring only from overseas and crack down on rogue agencies by extending the remit of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority where there is evidence of abuse. We need to strengthen our social integration and ensure that migrants can play their part in British society. People working in public services in public facing roles will be required to speak English. Those who come here will not be able to claim benefits for at least two years, and we will stop child benefit being sent to families living abroad. We will enforce immigration rules humanely and effectively. We will end the indefinite detention of people in the asylum and immigration system, ending detention for pregnant women and those who have been the victims of sexual abuse or trafficking. And we will ensure Britain continues its proud history of providing refuge for those fleeing persecution by upholding our international obligations, including working with the UN to support vulnerable refugees from Syria.

### Safer communities

Being safe is essential for living happy, secure lives for everyone. We all want to keep our families safe and we wantour communities to be the best places for our children to grow up. That can’t happen while antisocial behaviour and violence are still part of our lives. In too many towns and cities across Scotland, crime still impacts on people’s lives. We need to do everything we can to make our communities safer. Our approach is based around three principles: responsive, accountable and visible local policing; preventative measures to stop people from re-offending or offending in the first place and justice that puts victim first with rehabilitation that delivers results. Scottish Labour believes that the best way to keep our communities safe is through responsive, accountable and visible local policing. Cuts to policing in Scotland have meant that civilian support staff have been lost and roles have been backfilled by taking officers away from frontline duties. The routine arming of police officers on Scotland’s streets should never have been allowed to take place. Cuts to local police stations and the closure of local control rooms have damaged the connection between people in their communities and the police. Allegations of “unfounded searches” on adults and children to meet unduly high stop and search targets have harmed the public’s confidence in Police Scotland. Scottish Labour believes in policing by consent. Confidence in Police Scotland has been damaged by recent events, and more must be done to restore that confidence.

The whole of Britain needs to work better. For too long, constitutional change has been piecemeal and led by a few people at the top, and not citizens across the United Kingdom. That is why we will establish a UK Constitutional Convention, made up of people from across the United Kingdom, to establish how our country should be governed. Below we outline our plans to begin creating a more inclusive style of government and politics that shares power and responsibility with people and local places.

## Reforming government to give more power to people

### Reforming the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is a union of pooling and sharing resources and risks. We believe that Scotland benefits from being part of the United Kingdom economically, financially, socially and culturally. The referendum confirmed Scotland’s place in the United Kingdom, but the call for change resulting from the referendum was overwhelming. Labour will devolve more powers to the Scottish Parliament. We also need to change the way that the whole of the United Kingdom works. We will do something that should have been done long ago and replace the House of Lords with an elected Senate of the Nations and Regions. This reformed second chamber of the UK Parliament will help bind together the United Kingdom and improve democratic legitimacy. It will also give Scotland another strong voice at the heart of our democracy.

### Delivering more powers for the Scottish Parliament

People across Scotland voted overwhelmingly for change and Labour will keep its promise to deliver the Vow and implement the Smith Agreement in full. And we will go further, giving additional powers to Scotland. We will devolve more powers over tax, welfare and job creation to Scotland, making the Scottish Parliament one of the most powerful devolved Parliaments in the world. We will do this by delivering a Home Rule Bill to Parliament in the first 100 days of the next Government. The new powers will mean that rates of income tax will be set in Scotland. Billions of pounds of social security spending will be devolved and the Scottish Parliament will have the final say on the level of all benefits in Scotland. The Scottish Parliament will have the power to top up UK benefits and to introduce new benefits funded from Scotland. Benefits that support disabled people, such as the Personal Independence Payment, will be devolved in full. The Work Programme will be devolved to give local authorities the ability to get people back to work. We will also devolve borrowing power, including power that will allow the Scottish Parliament to boost capital projects. We will devolve powers to Holyrood and then beyond that to councils and to communities. Putting power in the hands of people in local communities is fundamental to our approach. The new devolution settlement will recognise the strength and security offered by being part of the United Kingdom. We will maintain the Barnett formula, the block grant and Scotland will continue to benefit from pooling and sharing across the United Kingdom.

### A better politics

A new generation of young people were inspired by their participation in the independence referendum. Allowing 16 and 17 year olds to vote in the referendum was the right decision. Scotland has led the way and we will give 16 and 17 year olds in Scotland and across the UK the right to vote in all elections. We will take steps to ensure that the move to individual electoral registration does not leave hundreds of thousands in Scotland unregistered. We’ll look at using existing data held by public authorities to automatically register people. We will improve our democracy by repealing the Lobbying Act, and creating a statutory register of lobbyists for the UK Parliament. In Scotland, we will support proposals for a statutory register of interests, which Labour campaigned for. We will ban MPs from holding paid directorships and consultancies and want to see the same in the Scottish Parliament. And we will reform the Commons to better hold the Government to account and strengthen the public’s voice on legislation.

### A New Deal for Scotland’s Towns, Cities, Villages and Islands

Labour supported devolution in 1997 because we believe that power is best shared across the country. But today, too much power has been concentrated in the Scottish Government, with many communities – including our rural and island communities - too distant from the decisions that shape their destinies. Scottish devolution has been a success, but the same principle now has to be extended across all parts of Scotland to give people in local communities more power over the decisions that affect their lives.

In our cities, there is a real desire for more power to be handed to local people and, more often than not, local leaders are better placed to make decisions about their local economies than national governments. Over the coming years, city regions will become greater drivers of economic growth. The City Deal for Glasgow will make a real difference and will give people in Glasgow and the Clyde Valley power over the local economy, and more chance to bring jobs and opportunities to the area. We will support the City Deal for Glasgow and will push forward with City Deals for Aberdeen and Inverness, and support a City Deal for Edinburgh, opening up opportunities for billions of pounds to be targeted at increasing economic opportunities across Scotland. Our islands and rural communities must also be able to take advantage of devolution. Labour will use the powers of the Smith Commission to devolve more power to our island communities, including over the Crown Estate. We will complete negotiations on devolution of the Crown Estate, as agreed by the Smith Commission and we will ensure thatopportunities will flow to Scotland’s rural communities and islands. Labour will also give our island communities a place at the heart of the UK Government. We will maintain the Islands Desk in the Scotland Office and convene a Summit between the UK Government and Scotland’s island councils twice a year.

### Rights and Equality

The Labour Party has always led on challenging prejudice and discrimination and we will continue to do so. People’s differences are not excuses to treat them badly or unjustly. The next Labour Government will go further in reducing discrimination against women, requiring large companies to publish their gender pay gap and strengthening the law against maternity discrimination. Where there is evidence more progress is needed, we will enforce the relevant provisions within the Equality Act. We want the UK and Scottish Parliaments to look more like our country. We are proud of our record in strengthening the representation of women and other under-represented groups in politics and public life. We remain committed to achieving a better balance in our Parliaments, including through the use of all-women shortlists in Labour Party parliamentary selection contests. We will also continue to work towards our goal of a 50:50 Scottish Parliament. We will establish a comprehensive race equality strategy to break down the barriers still faced by black and minority ethnic communities. Our aim is to make sure our national institutions, including our Parliament, the police, judiciary, civil service and the boardrooms of our companies, are more representative of the diversity of our country. We will also build on our history of championing LGBT rights, tackling homophobia with tougher laws at home and greater engagement abroad. Britain has a long tradition of liberty and the rule of law, and Labour has a proud record of extending these to our most vulnerable citizens, by promoting equality and opportunity for all.

Thanks to the Human Rights Act, some of our most vulnerable citizens, including disabled people and victims of crime, have been given a powerful means of redress. The Conservatives want to leave the European Convention of Human Rights and abolish the Human Rights Act. A Labour government will stand up for citizens’ individual rights, protecting the Human Rights Act and reforming, rather than walking away from the European Court of Human Rights. And we will make sure that access to legal representation, a cornerstone of our democracy, is not determined by personal wealth, but remains available to those that need it. Our Freedom of Information laws have shone a light into the darker corners of government and are a crucial check on the power of the Executive. We will extend their scope so that public services run by large private companies are included. We will make the same changes in Scotland.

### The media

The free flow of information and of different points of view, is crucial for open debate and countering concentrations of unaccountable power. That is why the concentration of media power in too few hands is damaging to our democracy. No one media owner should be able to exert undue influence on public opinion and policy makers. No media company should have so much power that those who run it believe themselves above the rule of law. Yet the current system for protecting against these threats is inadequate. Labour will take steps to protect the principle of media plurality so that no media outlet can get too big, including updating our rules for the 21st century media environment.

## Standing up for Britain's interests in Europe and the world

We live in turbulent times. The rise of ISIL, an aggressive Russia threatening its neighbours in eastern Europe, and continuing

economic uncertainty in the Eurozone are each a challenge to our national security. Labour is an internationalist party and believes Britain must engage with the global challenges we face, but not try and solve them on our own. We believe the Conservatives are damaging the interests of our country by turning their backs on Europe and isolating us abroad. We will strengthen our national security, stand up for human rights, and work with other countries to tackle terrorism, climate change, and work and to eliminate extreme poverty globally.

Britain has unique influence in the world. We are the only country that is a member of the UN Security Council, NATO, the G7, the G20, the Commonwealth and the EU. With Labour, Britain’s response to threats to our security will be based on enduring principles. We will protect our national interests and strengthen our long-standing international alliances, in particular our membership of NATO and the European Union.

We will advance our international

engagement, rather than retreating into isolation. We will maintain the best Armed Forces in the world, capable of responding to changing threats in an unpredictable security landscape. And we will support human rights, always putting individual freedom and democracy at the heart of our foreign policy. One of our first acts in government will be to conduct a wide-ranging review of Britain’s place in the world and how we can best uphold our values and the national interest.

### Global challenges

We will take a multilateral approach to global challenges. We will continue to uphold our key alliances. These include the United States, our allies in Africa and Latin America, and our partners from across the Commonwealth. They also include the European Union. The crisis in Ukraine in the past year has demonstrated the importance of NATO and the EU standing up to external threats in Europe’s eastern, as well as its southern, neighbourhood. Labour will continue to advocate an EU which looks outward to promote stability, peace and prosperity on its borders. Most immediately we will work with our allies to counter and confront terrorism. ISIL’s barbarism and inherently expansionist ideology, alongside terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and Al-Shabaab, represent a particular threat to global security. Following a request from the Iraqi Prime Minister, it was right that the UK joined other nations in air strikes against ISIL targets in Iraq. But military action alone will not defeat ISIL. A long-term multinational political strategy, with regional actors playing a central role, is essential for tackling the rise of extremism across the region. A Labour Government will always do what is necessary to defend our country. Beyond self-defence, Labour has been clear about the need to learn the lessons of previous interventions, especially the 2003 invasion of Iraq. We will continue the approach we have taken in this Parliament. A Labour Government would not propose the use of military force without judging whether reasonable diplomatic efforts have been exhausted, the action is proportionate and in partnership with allies, whether there is a clear legal basis, and if there is a clear plan, not just for winning the war but also for building a lasting peace.

Peace and security in the Middle East are one of Labour’s most important foreign policy objectives. We remain committed to a comprehensive two-state solution - a secure Israel alongside a viable and independent state of Palestine. There can be no military solution to this conflict and all sides must avoid taking action that would make peace harder to achieve. Labour will continue to press for an immediate return to meaningful negotiations towards a diplomatic resolution. Labour will also continue to honour the UK’s commitment to support Afghanistan as it seeks to secure an inclusive and durable political settlement. In December 2014, the NATO-led ISAF mission in Afghanistan ended. We can never repay the debt owed to the brave servicemen and women who have sacrificed and risked their lives in Afghanistan to protect our national security. As power and wealth continues to shift from West to East, our relationship with Asia will be fundamental to our long-term prosperity. Labour will set up an Asia Step-Change Taskforce to ensure a more strategic and effective dialogue with regional partners, including China, both in the commercial realm and in other areas, from cultural exchange to human rights. This commitment to universal human rights will be at the heart of our foreign policy across the world. We will continue to promote women’s rights. We will join with those campaigning to attain gender equality, the eradication of poverty and inclusive economic growth. We will appoint a Global Envoy for Religious Freedom, and establish a multi-faith advisory council on religious freedom within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. And we will appoint an International LGBT Rights Envoy to promote respect for the human rights of LGBT people, and work towards the decriminalisation of homosexuality worldwide.

Labour will:
* Conduct a Strategic Defence and Security Review in the first year of government.

* Return Britain to a leadership role in Europe, but reform the EU so that it works for Britain.
* Guarantee no powers will be transferred to Brussels without an in/out referendum.
* Appoint an International LGBT Rights Envoy, and appoint a Global Envoy for Religious Freedom.
* Outlaw discrimination and abuse of members of the Armed Forces.
* Push for global targets to tackle inequality and promote human rights.
* Establish a Centre for Universal Health Coverage.
* Push for an ambitious target in Paris to get to goal of net zero global emissions in the second half of this century.

## Time for change

In Scotland we are desperate for change. Across Scotland and across Britain, while living standards fall, social mobility stalls and austerity hurts the poorest, not everyone has had a bad time. While pursuing an economic plan which is first, last and always only about cuts, the Tories have somehow managed to find £3bn to spend on tax cuts for the highest earners. The empty shops in our high streets, that once held cherished local businesses have been filled by payday lenders, who seem to be the only growth industry in Tory Britain. Inequality has grown with the top ten percent earning ten times more than the bottom ten percent. That holds us all back. Inequality is estimated to have cost us about ten percent off our economic growth. We're restless for change because Labour is now, as we have always been, the party of social justice. So, we will end educational and health inequalities in Scotland in a generation. We look at Scotland and see our amazing talent and potential, but we see the things that stop people from fulfilling their dreams and ambitions. We know what the Scottish people know. We know we can do better than this. We know how quickly things can change.

Let’s vote with hope, for real change.