Cathy Jamieson launches Labour leadership campaign

FORMER justice minister Cathy Jamieson today pledged to bring back a party for the "ordinary people" of Scotland as she set her agenda for the Labour leadership.

Ms Jamieson vowed to "reconnect" with local communities and outlined her vision for a "vibrant, prosperous nation".

She also spoke of her opposition to a referendum on Scottish independence and said she did not believe Prime Minister Gordon Brown was a liability in the wake of Labour's defeat in the Glasgow East by-election.

Ms Jamieson launched her campaign last night at a meeting of local party members.

At the formal press launch in Glasgow today she said: "I want Scotland to be a vibrant, prosperous nation where everyone has the opportunity to be the best that they can be.

"My aspiration is for a Scotland that is confident, that is caring, but that is also secure in itself."

Ms Jamieson said the issues that mattered were decent housing for all, jobs, working practices and safer communities.

"I joined the Labour Party because I saw first-hand how unemployment, low incomes and unrelenting poverty can grind people down," she added.

"But I also saw how aspiration and education could lift people out of poverty.

"Now what I want to see is a Scotland where Labour has the aspiration, it has the vision and it has the organisation to succeed."

She added that a change of direction was needed in order for the party to achieve this.

"We need to reconnect with the people in the communities who have, for whatever reason, lost faith with us.

"We also have to see that, frankly, as Labour's problem.

"We need to offer hope for the future, a real and complete vision for the future.

"It is about policy, it is about style and it is about the kind of Scotland that we want.

"I want to see Scotland's future being fair, I want it to be free from fear and most of all I want it to be filled with hope."

Ms Jamieson said the new Scottish Labour leader must galvanise MSPs, MPs, Labour councillors, trade unionists and activists to ensure the party reconnected with communities.

"I believe that I have got the skills and the vision and the passion to do that.

"I'm proud to be Scottish, I'm passionate about Labour values and I want to see the Labour Party, Scotland's Labour Party, back in power to deliver for ordinary people."

Ms Jamieson will face competition from former enterprise minister Iain Gray and ex-health minister Andy Kerr.

Cathcart MSP Charlie Gordon and East Renfrewshire MSP Ken Macintosh are also expected to run.

The leadership vacancy arose when Wendy Alexander quit after a long-running row over donations to her own leadership campaign last year.

Ms Jamieson, who is acting leader of the Scottish Labour Party, was cheered as she arrived at the campaign launch at the STUC headquarters on Woodlands Road.

In a departure from Ms Alexander's position, she said she was against holding an early referendum on Scottish independence.

"I don't think the majority of people in Scotland want to see independence," Ms Jamieson said.

"I don't think at this point in time we should be looking for a referendum and I don't back calls for bringing a referendum," Ms Jamieson said.

"I think we should focus on the things that matter to ordinary people."

Ms Jamieson said the job as Scottish Labour Party leader would be difficult but it was encouraging that so many people were putting themselves forward for the leadership contest.

When asked about whether Prime Minister Gordon Brown should stand down, Ms Jamieson said: "The Prime Minister is not a liability. I hope that he will hear the messages that people are saying, particularly from Glasgow East.

"I hope that he will also use that as an opportunity to re-engage with people."

The MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley said she understood what mattered to people.

"I can listen to what they are saying, I can relate to them and I think very importantly I can also talk in their language.

"I can articulate back into government, and with my colleagues, what needs to be done in order to change their lives."

She added that there was a need to build consensus among the Labour movement.

"I think if we work together we can have a much more powerful voice for change and we can be that movement for change."