SCOTTISH LABOUR pressed Westminster yesterday to adopt a “progressive federal structure” to challenge the ever-growing wealth gap ahead of its conference later this month.

The party’s leader Kezia Dugdale called for the “new constitutional convention” as official party policy to repair fractures between Scotland and the rest of Britain following referendums on Scottish independence and the EU.

She said it “will lead to a renewed partnership between Scotland and the other nations of the UK based on a progressive federal structure for the UK.”

During her speech at University College London, Ms Dugdale insisted that local democracy and accountability be restored, warning that “too many feel disenfranchised, disempowered and left behind.”

Labour’s “historic mission” has been to redistribute wealth fairly, ensure power is widely shared and that “decisions should be taken to ensure that the views of working people are represented in our country,” she said.

However, she said Scotland’s economy was failing working people and that the “gulf between the government and the governed cannot be allowed to grow further.”

She stressed that Labour was “firmly opposed” to a second independence referendum. Scotland was already “deeply divided” by economic inequality as well as constitutional politics, she warned.

Ms Dugdale said that a people’s constitutional convention, made up of citizens from across Britain, should be held before the next general election.

But SNP MSP Linda Fabiani accused Labour of promising “a supercharged, powerhouse, federalism-max for years and consistently failing to deliver it.”

She said the SNP was clear that independence “must be an option” if it is the best or only way to protect Scotland’s “vital national interests.”

SNP international affairs spokesman Alex Salmond said at the weekend that another independence referendum was “very likely” and could be held as early as autumn 2018, depending on whether Westminster fails to heed Scottish plans to protect trade with the EU.

We need your support to keep running. If you like what you read please donate by clicking here