LABOUR would outlaw controversial private finance contracts for the public sector as part of a socialist programme for government in Scotland, Richard Leonard has vowed.

In his keynote speech to Scottish Labour's conference, Leonard said that as First Minister he would ensure no new PFI deals were struck.

He said a Labour government at Holyrood would also seek to bring existing contracts back to the public sector.

Leonard said the ban on private finance would be part of a radical agenda that would "fundamentally change the existing economic system".

He said: "These contracts do not provide value for money. So, we will go further and also explore how to bring back in-house existing contracts and we will develop alternative public-sector models for funding saving the public money and improving services and working conditions."

Leonard also pledged to cap the profits that private companies and agencies can make from Scotland's NHS.

HE said: "We will fight to make sure that the pay rise our NHS workers deserve is paid up in full and we will fight to make sure it is not paid for by more cuts to services, and that is why a Scottish Labour government would legislate to cap the profits that private agencies make in our health service, investing instead to attract and retain staff, benefitting patients as well as the workforce."

Leonard mounted a strong defence of Jeremy Corbyn's position of the UK being in a permanent customs union with the EU after Brexit.

He said: "Jeremy Corbyn is right that we must have a new customs union with our European neighbours. Let us not forget that it is with the shambolic Tory party that the blame for Brexit lies. Their chaotic and confused approach to negotiations is putting our country, our economy and even our devolution settlement in jeopardy."

In his speech in Dundee, Leonard cited PFI contracts to deliver mental health services in Tayside, that he said were costing the taxpayer millions of pounds.

He said: "Let me assure you that our starting point in Scottish Labour is to ensure our public services are there to serve the Scottish public not the balance sheets of financiers. Here in Tayside the thirteen million pounds that is spent on the two private finance contracts for mental health facilities is simply not delivering for those people who need them.

"The Carseview contract for example has another nine years to run and is estimated to cost three million pounds each year. The contract for mental health facilities at the Murray Royal and Stracathro hospitals is expected to pay out three hundred million pounds over the next twenty five years. So I pledge today, under my leadership Scottish Labour will go into the next Holyrood election committed to signing no new private finance deals."

Leonard also used his speech to highlight the plight of his brother-in-law Thomas Sim, 47, a former Grangemouth energy plant worker, who has faced unemployment since being made redundant.

He said: "During the year when he was out of work between contracts, he’d sometimes drive a taxi, scrimping and saving to make ends meet. His wife works but they have a mortgage to pay, two kids, one still at school, so right now he’s back on the taxis. He’s a hard worker, he wants to work and he wants secure work. I know him because he’s my brother-in-law. His life is all too typical of what work is like for too many people in Tory Britain and SNP Scotland in 2018."