“It’s fantastic, gorgeous,” he declared in the neo-classical surroundings of Dover House, the top storey of which is said to be stalked by the ghost of Byron’s lover, Lady Caroline Lamb.

Margaret Thatcher fell in love with the place and wanted it as her prime ministerial home but that was given the thumbs down by security; the building fronts onto a busy main road.

Mr Murphy, as ever, was in a relaxed mood yet still exercised by his most important announcement since becoming Scottish Secretary in October 2008: giving Holyrood stronger tax powers. It was a canny political move in several ways.

If Holyrood wants more money, it will have to go to the Scottish taxpayer, so there is a built-in incentive to keep spending levels on an even keel.

“They can’t go more than 10p lower than the UK rate but they could go 10p higher. They could go higher than the UK rate but the public would kind of say: ‘Hmmm. That is higher taxes than England?’”

Mr Murphy, the 42-year-old son of a pipe-fitter, said accepting the Calman Commission’s recommendation on greater tax powers for Holyrood turned the “permanently dormant power” of the 3p tartan tax into a “permanent conversation” about how much it spent.

“History will make a judgment on this but it resolves the central weakness of devolution, which is accountability, scape-goatism and blaming someone else that comes to an end.

“The size of the Scottish budget will be decided in Scotland. If politicians want more money to spend and the public are willing, then they can have it.”

Yet can anyone imagine Scotland having higher taxes than England?

“It’s entirely consistent with believing in the United Kingdom that you can have differing tax rates in different parts of the United Kingdom.”

Given the gargantuan scale of Britain’s debt mountain, Mr Murphy was clear that Scotland, just like the rest of the UK, would have to share in the pain and at this point became, understandably, defensive.

While we know taxes are going up we have yet to be told where spending cuts will fall. ­Education, health and the police will be protected, which Mr Murphy noted would mean that under the Barnett Formula, Scotland would be placed “in a relatively very strong position”.

Pressed about how Holyrood’s budget would, after 2011, be much tighter because of the impending cuts in Whitehall, the Scottish Secretary replied: “Alex Salmond’s Government is going to have to go on a bit of a diet, that’s true …

“There’s going to be less money around and people have got to make it work harder. That means politicians of all parties have got to make it work harder.”

He stressed how voters wanted tax spent better, more carefully, with less waste.

He talked animatedly about the affection people had for Scotland’s 32 local councils but then noted how there was “a vast, vast, vast amount of waste inside the public sector bodies”.

He went on: “There needs to be a total transformation in the way in which they organise services and at the very best they are scratching at the surface.”

While the polls have narrowed of late, there is still a deep mood of defeatism among the Labour comrades at Westminster and Mr Murphy turned on his party’s doom-mongers.

“They’re wrong. They should get their chin off their chest and fight for what they believe in. The election is only lost when the voters have decided it’s lost.

“The public can see when you have lost belief in yourself. You radiate that sense that we’re all done like Private Fraser -- we’re all doomed.”

He added: “If you think we’re finished, you think we’ve lost, go do something else. Do the Labour Party and do the country a favour. Stand up for what you believe in and get on and make a fight.”

 

Jamieson bids to fill Browne’s shoes

LABOUR MSP Cathy Jamieson is hoping to follow Des Browne as MP for Kilmarnock and Loudon.

She is to bid for the party’s nomination for the seat at the next General Election, when former defence secretary Mr Browne steps down.

Ms Jamieson, a former justice minister at Holyrood, was born and brought up in Kilmarnock and lives in the constituency. She already represents part of the area in the Scottish Parliament.

She said: “Kilmarnock and Loudoun needs a strong Labour voice in Westminster, standing up for local people and fighting their corner. I want to be that voice.”

Ms Jamieson said a number of local people had asked her to stand following last month’s announcement by Mr Browne, who has also served as Scottish Secretary, that he would not be seeking re-election.

Mr Browne, who was elected as the MP for the area in 1997, revealed last month that he decided with “some reluctance” that it was time to move on.

Ms Jamieson will have to go through a full selection process, and local Labour members will ultimately decide who they want to represent the party when the country goes to the polls.

Ms Jamieson said: “My record in the Scottish Parliament shows that I would work tirelessly on local issues and helping constituents with problems.”

If successful in her bid to get to Westminster, Ms Jamieson said she would continue to represent her constituents at Holyrood until the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections.