SCOTLAND'S new Independence Minister has called on Gordon Brown to apologise for the promises in the Vow not being kept.

Jamie Hepburn claimed that the former prime minister had “made promises that would have made even snake-oil salesmen blush”.

The attack on the ex-Labour leader comes ahead of a rally by his thinktank, Our Scottish Future in Edinburgh tonight. 

Speakers include Mr Brown, Labour's First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and the actress and writer Arabella Weir.

The event follows on from his report earlier this year setting out plans for constitutional reform. 

At the time, the former prime minister said the choice in Scotland at the next election should be between “no change with the Conservatives, change within the United Kingdom with Labour and change by leaving the United Kingdom with the SNP”.

READ MORE: Gordon Brown unveils plans to 'make Britain work for Scotland'

At tonight's event, he is expected to say that there is a "new alliance of people from across Scotland, England and Wales demanding change."

Ahead of the 2014 vote, Mr Brown was instrumental in drawing up the Vow – a commitment published on the front page of the Daily Record promising Scotland "extensive new power" if voters opted to remain in the UK.

It was published two days before the vote, shortly after a poll put Yes ahead.

Alex Salmond has credited it with swaying public opinion against independence. 

The editor of the Daily Record at the time was Murray Foote. He later went on to be the SNP's head of communications but resigned during this year's leadership contest after it emerged he had unknowingly misled journalists over the party's membership figures. 

READ MORE: SNP asks UK government to organise Commons debate on The Vow

Speaking ahead of tonight's rally, Mr Hepburn said that Mr Brown “could not have been clearer that if people in Scotland voted against independence, in his own words, that ‘we’re going to be, within a year or two, as close to a federal state as you can be’.”

The SNP MSP said since the independence vote in 2014, Scotland had been “dragged out of the EU against our will” and had seen the powers of the Scottish Parliament come “under attack like never before”.

The Herald:

Mr Hepburn said: “The Sewel Convention which was supposed to prevent Westminster over-riding the Scottish Parliament is now routinely being breached.

“Laws passed in explicitly devolved areas are struck down at the stroke of the Scottish Secretary’s pen. And the Foreign Secretary is sending out threatening letters to overseas embassies trying to restrict Scottish ministers’ efforts to secure jobs and investment for Scotland.”

Mr Hepburn continued: “In contrast to what Gordon Brown promised, the reality is that we are about as far from a federal state as you can get – and nothing that pro-Brexit Labour are proposing in their anaemic devolution proposals will make any difference.

“Jobs have been lost and living standards have been harmed because promises that Gordon Brown made were not kept, and before he takes to the stage he needs to apologise.”

READ MORE: Scots alienated from 'London-centric' state, warns Gordon Brown

Earlier in the week, Mr Brown published new polling data showing Scots feel alienated from the “London-centric system” in the Union despite an affinity with people living in England and Wales, Gordon Brown has said. 

He said: “Our poll shows that Scotland’s problem is with Whitehall, Westminster and a London-centric system.

“Many parts of the rest of the UK also feel detached from a centralised state.

“[Thursday’s speakers] will talk about how, across the whole of the United Kingdom, we can fight for change we can believe in.”