Labour’s Scottish leader has called for an annual wealth tax on the rich and free bus travel for all, in a conference speech aiming to re-establish the party’s radical socialist credentials.
Richard Leonard, who has struggled to make an impact on Scottish politics since his election in late 2017, also promised to “take on the vested interests” of the “landed class” who own large swaths of Scotland, citing by name Danish fashion retailer Anders Povlsen and the Duke of Buccleuch.
“We will deliver a radical redistribution of power and wealth,” Mr Leonard said in his speech at the Caird Hall in Dundee on Saturday.
But the Scottish leader gave few details of how his policies would work in practice and it was unclear how much public attention his dramatic pledges will win for a party embroiled in fierce dispute over Brexit and accusations of entrenched anti-Semitism.
In his speech, Mr Leonard gave a similar but much more emphatically delivered endorsement of the push for a second Brexit referendum than UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had offered in his conference speech on Friday.
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While Mr Corbyn delivered his conditional pledge of support for a so-called People’s Vote “to prevent disaster” in a low and rushed voice, Mr Leonard spoke slowly and clearly.
“If we cannot force Theresa May to change course and accept our credible alternative, let me be absolutely clear, Labour will back a public vote,” he said.
The Scottish leader also spoke in strong terms about the need to root out anti-Semitism from the party. “We need to win back the trust of Scotland’s Jewish communities, who feel badly let down,” he said. “It sickens me that there is any anti-Semitism at all in our party and in our movement.”
Labour aides could offer no detail of Mr Leonard’s call for an annual wealth tax. Introducing one in Scotland could be difficult given Edinburgh’s limited control of the tax system and the risk of encouraging wealthy residents to move to other parts of the UK.
It was also unclear how much Mr Leonard’s vision of universal free public bus services might cost.
“The Scottish Labour government that I lead will not only end the failure of deregulation, we will deliver the success of free bus travel for all,” he said.
Aides said Mr Leonard’s proposed first step of offering free bus travel for all people aged 16 to 25, which he said should be introduced before 2021, would cost more than £13.5m a year. Labour would also seek legislation soon to allow cities to set up and run their own bus services.
Scotland already offers free bus travel to the over 60s, a Labour innovation that Mr Leonard said was “one of the finest achievements of the Scottish parliament”.
