GORDON Brown should return to frontline British politics to take charge of Labour’s push for a federal solution to the UK’s constitutional problems, according to a senior party figure.
Mark Lazarowicz, who was a member of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, said he believed the former Prime Minister was the ideal person to lead Labour’s quest to find a balanced and permanent constitutional settlement for the UK.
The former Edinburgh MP said Mr Brown had made it clear he wanted to see a form of federalism adopted by both the Labour Party and the UK.
Writing in today’s Herald, Mr Lazarowicz backed the idea of a People’s Constitutional Convention to find the best path and he asked: “And who better to lead such a commission than Gordon Brown, given his radical commitment not just to a UK constitutional convention but to a transformation of the UK state?”
Mr Lazarowicz was one of the Labour MPs who lost their seats to the SNP electoral surge of 2015.
He is now trying to find ways to help both Scotland and Labour settle the constitutional question without breaking the Union.
Mr Lazarowicz said he backed last week’s call by Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale for a federal option for the UK’s constitution and for a convention to find the best form of federalism.
“The mood in Labour for a properly federal UK is clearly strengthening. But how can that general mood be turned into firm policies?” he asked.
Mr Lazarowicz said there had to be clarity over what was meant by federalism and Labour throughout the UK had to decide which form of federalism it supported, not leave it as a Scottish issue.
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