I was devastated watching the results on election night in December. Labour supporters are still hurting but we must look to the future.
Yesterday I spoke about how we need to plot our path to power – not just for our party but all the people of our country.
In Scotland there are more than a million people living in poverty, including one in four children. There are record high NHS Accident and Emergency waiting times, Scottish life expectancies are the lowest in the UK and every 18 minutes a household in Scotland becomes homeless.
Committed, reforming governments in Westminster and Holyrood delivering aspirational socialist policies can make a difference.
And I know that winning the trust of the Scottish people is needed if we are to kick the Tories out of power in Westminster.
That means we have to own up to the mistakes of the past and change.
We’ll never again make the mistake of the 2014 “Better Together” campaign when we stood alongside a reactionary Conservative government.
Our future lies in campaigning and organising alongside working people, not the Tories. I want to empower our movement, by helping members organise in their workplaces and local communities, backing workers in every dispute and nurturing our young activists.
An empowered labour movement can help take power out of Westminster and closer to people.
Rebuilding trust means supporting democracy. So, I don’t think it’s Westminster’s role to block a second independence referendum if the Scottish people want one, even though I would passionately campaign for unity over independence in any referendum.
But that doesn’t mean I support the status quo for Scotland. I want Holyrood to have the powers and resources it needs to expand public services, support jobs and protect the environment. I also want to scrap the London-centric House of Lords and replace it with an elected Senate that represents our regions and nations.
We can empower our movement to show that big change is possible through a democratic revolution that delivers aspirational socialism and a Green Industrial Revolution. That’s our path to power. Let’s take it together.
Long-Bailey is standing to be the next Labour leader
