Miliband urges Scots to stay in UK and add clout to stronger entity

British Labour Party leader Ed Miliband has called on Scots to reject independence and join his “mission” to bring social and economic change to the UK.

He said there was “deep discontent” across the country, with people “crying out” for economic change. He said that “in the face of an economy that doesn’t work and a politics that is broken, some people might be tempted to vote Yes” to Scottish independence in September’s referendum

Mr Miliband insisted: "There is another, better way of changing things. Our mission – economic and social change."

With less than three months to go until voters in Scotland decide the future of the UK, Mr Miliband told an audience in Edinburgh: "By saying No in the referendum, the people of Scotland can say Yes to the campaign to change Britain as a whole. To change our economy and the way we are governed."

Labour has already pledged to deliver more devolution to Scotland – including new income tax powers – if the Scots opt to stay in the UK. But he said devolution “must not stop in Scotland”.

Mr Miliband said the Welsh Assembly should be put “on the same legal footing as the Scottish Parliament”.

He also said his party would set out its plans next week to “restore the great cities of our country as the great powerhouses of our economy . . . We will be better able to change Scotland and the whole of the UK if we stay together.”

Mr Miliband said the “question for this and future generation of Scots” was how best could the nation’s “traditions of equality and solidarity” be put into practice. He asked if this was best achieved “in an independent Scotland, apart from the rest of the UK, or at the heart of a movement that goes beyond the border and changes all of Britain?”.

He said: "That is your decision. But it is one I care passionately about. I believe the best choice for Scotland is to help us change the whole of the United Kingdom. And to do it over the next year, by electing a Labour government that can make that change happen."

‘Progressive change’

The Labour leader said: “By voting No, the people of Scotland won’t be voting for things to stay the same. You won’t be supporting the status quo.

“By voting No, you can say Yes to the biggest progressive change for a generation . . . My appeal to the people of Scotland is to be part of our mission to change Britain. Scotland has always thought big. And the way to think big in the 21st century is by changing the United Kingdom.”