Ed Miliband will come to speak at Scottish Labour’s conference in Dundee this weekend in the knowledge that his disastrous approval ratings among Scots voters are lower than anywhere else in Britain, at a dismal -63 per cent. This is more than three times lower than David Cameron’s -18 rating among Scots voters, and even the Conservative heartlands in the South of England have a higher opinion of the Labour leader’s performance, according to the latest polling figures
Commenting, SNP MSP for Cunninghame North Kenneth Gibson said:
“It is clear that the people of Scotland are rightly appalled by Labour agreeing “100 per cent” with the Tories on Scotland’s future. Ed Miliband’s decision to join in a toxic pact with the Tories to stand in the way of job-creating powers and more responsibilities for the Scottish Parliament must be a key factor in this overwhelming negative verdict against him from Scots voters, who now know that a Yes vote to independence is the only sure way to secure these job-creating powers.
“Meanwhile, in the Scottish Parliament Labour are ganging up with the Tories again to vote against a Scottish Budget which delivered another year of frozen council tax, 25,000 apprenticeships for young people, and funding to build 5,000 new council houses.
“Their Scottish leader Johann Lamont has remained utterly silent on a series of scandals, from bullying in Glasgow City Council to criminal charges being filed against a Scottish Labour MP.
“Labour can’t even make up their minds where they stand on an important issue like the council tax. One minute they are calling for the popular council tax freeze to be scrapped, the next their councillors are cutting the council tax – and yet again Johann Lamont refuses to say where she stands.
“It’s no wonder that Scottish voters are deserting Labour in droves, and no wonder that Ed Miliband’s ratings are plumbing previously unimaginable depths for a Labour leader in Scotland. Labour has no credibility and nothing useful to say on the constitution, on the economy, or on any of the issues that matter to ordinary households in Scotland.”
A breakdown of the Sunday Times You Gov polling figures shows Ed Miliband’s approval rating in Scotland at -63%, compared to -42% for the whole of Britain. David Cameron’s Scottish rating is at -18% and Nick Clegg’s at -64%.
