Kezia Dugdale promises workers would get new jobs if Labour axed Trident

THOUSANDS of Trident workers would be handed a guarantee of another job under Labour plans to axe the nuclear deterrent.

Scottish Labour members will today debate the divisive issue of Trident which supports thousands of jobs in Scotland and the north west of England.

Many in the party, including new leader Jeremy Corbyn, want to get rid of Britain’s nuclear deterrent and the conference in Perth will see members decide Scottish Labour’s stance on the issue.

The motion being discussed calls for “firm commitments on the retention of defence jobs” before any decision not to renew the multi-billion pound system.

The move would see Defence Diversification Agencies established at Scottish and UK levels which would look at other uses for the skills of those who build and maintain the submarines.

If the policy of axing Trident is adopted by Scottish Labour it will pave the way for the UK Labour to adopt the same stance.

However, the final decision on replacing the UK’s four ageing nuclear subs is due to be made in 2016 with the go-ahead likely given the Tory’s Commons majority.

Meanwhile, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has pledged more cash to help Scotland’s poorest pupils and to reverse tax credit cuts for working families north of the Border.

Miss Dugdale also pledged to reverse the UK Government’s planned tax credit cuts and will pay for it by not lifting the tax thresholds for middle income earners.

Labour MSP Neil Findlay warned members against adopting a “morally superior” stance on Trident.

He said: “The key people now who we have to convince because I feel now that things are moving in the right direction are the workers who feel they are going to lose their jobs and the communities who feel vulnerable.

“They are the folk that we have to take with us, because that holier-than-thou attitude doesn’t save one job.

“So they couldn’t give a stuff about people lecturing them from on high, what they need is practical reassurance that there are going to be jobs and businesses in these communities.”

In her flagship address to conference, Miss Dugdale unveiled a plan which will see head teachers share an £80 million annual war chest to fix Scotland’s failing schools.

The Scottish Labour leader said the move would allow schools to hire extra staff or buy more resources needed to help an estimated 72,000 kids a year.

Miss Dugdale also revealed plans to pay Scotland’s care workers the living wage.

The Lothians MSP also turned her fire on David Cameron’s Conservatives and the SNP Government at Holyrood.

Labour in Scotland were virtually wiped out by Nicola Sturgeon’s party in May, losing all but one of the seats they held.

With elections to the Scottish Parliament taking place next May, Miss Dugdale pledged she would set up a Fair Start Fund which would provide some £78 million a year to help 72,000 youngsters eligible for free school meals if her party returns to power at Holyrood.

She also vowed to protect Scots from UK Government cuts to tax credits by using new tax and welfare powers coming to MSPs from April 2017 to ensure families north of the Border do not lose out.

Care workers will get a “real living wage” she said, and youngsters leaving care who go on to university will get a grant of £6,000 a year to help them.

Miss Dugdale told party activists in Perth: “Next year’s elections will be hard, but I have no intention of making it easy for the SNP either.”

The Labour leader, whose parents were both teachers, insisted that “something has to be done about the achievement gap in our schools”.

To tackle problems such as falling standards of literacy and numeracy, she said Scottish Labour would bring in a Fair Start Fund with this to be paid for by increasing the top rate of income tax to 50p, something Labour says could raise up to £110 million a year in Scotland.

Those youngsters who meet the eligibility criteria for free school meals would benefit, with the extra cash going direct to schools.

She added: “You know what? The SNP are starting to make the kind of mistakes we did when we dominated Scottish politics. They see the reasons not to act rather than the way to make change.”

An SNP spokeswoman said: “Labour’s position is confused and lacking in any credibility.”