Michael Marra to claim Holyrood ‘hoarding power’ in conference speech

Michael Marra is set to call for the Scottish government to decentralise power from Holyrood in his first conference speech as Scottish Labour leader.

Marra will claim the Scottish Parliament has “hoarded money and control” in Edinburgh and demand skills policy is devolved to Scotland’s regions.

The MSP for North East Scotland, who defeated Joe Fagan in a vote to replace Anas Sarwar just over a week ago, will address the first day of the UK Labour conference in Liverpool.

He is expected to call on the Scottish government to put “power and money” in the hands of local people to grow regional economies.

Marra will say: “Had our regions grown at the same pace as Manchester in the last decade, the Scottish economy would be £30bn larger.

“Too much power is centralised in Scotland. The Scottish Parliament has hoarded money and control at the expense of Scotland’s communities.”