*Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Labour Party,* speaking with a year to go
until the Scottish referendum, said:

“A year today Scotland will decide whether or not to leave the United
Kingdom. It is right that this is a decision for Scotland alone. But I
think I can say this on behalf of the rest of the United Kingdom - this
matters to us. This matters not just to the family in Edinburgh but to the
family in Exeter. Not just to the worker in Dundee, but to the worker in
Doncaster.

“We would all be diminished if we were to break apart. More than that, if
Scotland leaves the UK it will diminish the potential of the great things
we can all achieve together.

“Over the last three hundred years we have been on a remarkable journey.
What all the nations and regions of the UK have achieved together has led
the world. The NHS, the industrial revolution, the ships that sailed the
globe and the ideas that shaped it. Have we always gone in the right
direction? No. No country on earth could ever claim that. But together we
have been an overwhelming force for good.

“And for Labour the union of our island is not simply about the past,
however great our history. It is about how we best face the challenges of
our time. How can we tackle the cost of living crisis families face, how we
compete in the 21st century with high quality jobs not a race to the
bottom, and how we build an economy that works for working people once
again.

“The barriers which hold us back from tackling these challenges are not
borders. The barriers are deprivation, vested interest and a Conservative
Party that stands up for the privileged few not for ordinary families.
Rather than erecting borders to separate families and friends, we should be
pulling down these barriers that hold us back. Together we can create the
fairer, more equal society we need. One where we have a fairer economy and
the talent of not one of us is lost.

“I want Scotland to be a part of that fight. We need Scotland to be part of
that fight. All of us in the UK have benefitted from Scotland being part of
it, as Scotland has grown by being part of the UK. Labour’s message is
clear. Social justice can truly be achieved on an island this small not
with the quick fix of erecting a border, but by building on our proud
history and together writing the next chapter in the fairer Britain we so
desperately want to see.

“That is our case and with a year to go until Scotland decides it’s future
the task for our Party is to get out there and make it.”