Kezia Dugdale urges action on child poverty

Politicians should be judged by their record on child poverty, according to Kezia Dugdale.

Newly elected Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale will visit a nursery today to urge the Scottish Parliament to use new powers, brought by the Smith Agreement, to combat inequality.

In comments released ahead of the visit she said: “Everybody in Scottish politics must be judged by what we do with the powers we have to improve the lives of working class children.

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“It doesn't matter if it's a Tory Government in Westminster, an SNP Government in Edinburgh or a local Labour council. We all have a collective responsibility to make things better.

“We all have a duty - every politician in every party in Scotland - to start talking about how we can use the powers we have to transform the lives of our young people, rather than complaining about the powers we don't have.”

The move follows Dugdale’s election as leader on Saturday, pledging to make clear what Labour stands for in an effort to win back lost support.

Explaining the party’s failure in the general election, she said: “Firstly, a large part of the population have simply switched off from us. It's not so much that they don't like what they hear - they've stopped listening to us altogether.

“And secondly, those who are willing to give us a hearing tell us they don't know what we stand for anymore.

“Under my leadership nobody will be in any doubt about what the Labour Party stands for and who we stand with.”