I have been asking people across Scotland to take another look at the Scottish Labour party. I’m not being presumptuous enough to ask for your vote, but simply to view us with fresh eyes. We’re changing. We have positive ideas to change the country. I’ll deliver that message to the Scottish public, and also to Scottish business.
Tomorrow I’ll be visiting businesses in Glasgow to speak about the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for the Scottish economy, business and jobs.
When I won the leadership of my party just over a week ago, I said that I was on the side of the potential entrepreneur — the person who fancies the challenge of starting their own business but feels that government doesn’t offer enough support.
I want to help Scottish business flourish. That’s why, when I named my frontbench team last week and shook up the traditional style of political portfolios, I created a post for public services and wealth generation, because the two go hand in hand.
My vision for Scotland is one with a thriving business sector that will let us not only grow our economy but also make it more dynamic and innovative. I want to see more start-ups and fresh thinking across our economy. I want to see our core industries refreshed and renewed, and new industries catch fire. To see that become reality, policymakers need to harness the creative energy and ambition of the people of Scotland. Not only those born into opportunity but every single person in this country, regardless of background.
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We can all list the rag-to-riches tales of people from poverty creating and sustaining successful businesses seemingly against the odds. In Scotland I want to make those stories seem a little less special by giving everyone a fair chance to get on in life. I don’t believe the life chances of a child born today should be determined by the privilege or the postcode they are born into, but instead by that child’s potential, work ethic and ambition.
To build a better Scotland we need to future-proof our economy and start investing in the jobs and skills that will see us through not just to the end of the decade but to the end of the century.
This Monday past I visited a childcare centre in Paisley. Among the castle-building with bricks and the finger-painting, kids were playing educational games on tablets. The reality is that the skills with which we equip our young people, even at nursery age, will affect the jobs we create in 20 years’ time.
Under my leadership there will be a commitment to excellence in Scottish education. That is how we tackle low pay, inequality and poverty in our country — by giving our young people the skills they will need for the jobs of tomorrow. The first minister gave a speech last week asking to be judged on her record on education, but she has had eight years in government to drive forward a radical agenda on education, and she can’t start with a blank sheet of paper now. We need action, not just warm words to close the attainment gap.
And, yes, sometimes action means tough choices. That is why I want to raise the top rate of tax to 50p to invest more in education, particularly in closing the attainment gap. I believe in a more progressive tax system where we ask those earning the most to pay a little more to invest in our public services, but I’m not doing this on the basis of dogma or ideology. I want to specifically invest in education to create more jobs, wealth and prosperity in the future. For me that isn’t a hard choice, but something that will pay off for generations.
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I want to redistribute wealth and power, but I recognise that to redistribute wealth we need to create it in Scotland in the first place. A fairer, more equal, country can mean a more prosperous one if we future-proof our skills.
I want our country to be ambitious and imaginative, with no limits to what can be achieved. Scotland is below the UK average for business start-ups. That should change. There is no reason why it can’t if we are bold and radical in giving Scots every chance to succeed.
We should lead the UK and Europe for start-ups. Our country is rich in opportunity, from the world-leading technology of Dundee to the financial centre of Edinburgh and the culture of Glasgow. Ours is a country with boundless potential. We can lead the world in industries that don’t yet exist. We can create those industries.
That is why I want to invest in education. The attainment gap is immoral and we must use the powers of the Scottish parliament to close it, but we should also realise what we gain from doing so: a better, more prosperous country, a future-proofed economy, a Scotland ready to face the challenges and embrace to opportunities that lie ahead.
Kezia Dugdale is leader of the Scottish Labour party