Independence minister demands Brown says sorry after Vow promises ‘not kept’

Former prime minister Gordon Brown has come under fire for promises made to Scots ahead of the 2014 referendum, with the Scottish Government’s independence minister insisting these commitments were “not kept”.

Jamie Hepburn hit out at the former Labour leader, saying he should apologise to people as “jobs have been lost and living standards have been harmed” as a result.

Ahead of the historic vote in September 2014, Mr Brown was instrumental in drawing up what became known as the Vow – a commitment that Scotland would have federal-like powers if people rejected independence and instead opted to stay in the UK.

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

With Mr Brown due to speak at a pro-UK rally in Edinburgh on Thursday evening, Mr Hepburn challenged him over the Vow.

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

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.

“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.”

Mr Brown has already said he will be speaking about the “fight for change we can believe in” at Thursday’s event, which will also be addressed by Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin.

The former prime minister added that research for his Our Scottish Future think tank shows “Scotland’s problem is with Whitehall, Westminster and a London-centric system”.

But he stressed many other parts of the UK “also feel detached from a centralised state”.

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