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Ed Miliband due at Scottish Labour dinner as new leader search continues Ed Miliband due at Scottish Labour dinner as new leader search continues
(about 4 hours later)
Labour's UK leader Ed Miliband is due to attend a fundraising dinner in Glasgow as the process of finding a new Scottish leader continues. Ed Miliband has admitted that Labour is facing a "big challenge" in Scotland as the process of finding a new Scottish leader continues.
The event at the Grand Central Hotel will be the first major gathering of Labour members north of the border since the independence referendum. He was speaking as a poll suggested the party was on track to lose almost all of its Scottish seats to the SNP in the general election.
It also comes in the wake of the sudden resignation of Johann Lamont. Mr Miliband told the BBC he would work closely with whoever was elected as Scottish Labour leader.
She quit her post on Friday evening accusing the party's leadership of treating Scotland like a branch office. Three candidates have put themselves forward to replace Johann Lamont.
The 56-year-old said key decisions, including the removal of Scottish Labour general secretary Ian Price, were made without her input. Ms Lamont quit the job last Friday, and accused Labour's UK leadership of treating Scotland like a branch office.
Responding to Ms Lamont's departure, after nearly three years in the job, Mr Miliband said the Glasgow MSP deserved "significant credit" for the part she played in the successful "No" vote in the Scottish referendum campaign. Two Labour MSPs - Neil Findlay and Sarah Boyack - have so far said they are standing in the contest to replace her, as has the MP Jim Murphy.
But in an interview with the Daily Record newspaper, Mr Miliband rejected Ms Lamont's accusation and urged the party to move on from the row Mr Miliband, who is due to address a fundraising dinner in Glasgow on Thursday evening, told the BBC that he was not backing any of the candidates as it was "for the Scottish Labour Party to decide who their new leader will be".
Mr Miliband, who has refused to publicly back any candidate for the Scottish Labour leadership, added: "I see it differently from the way it's been described. The referendum was led by Scottish Labour with others providing support, like the 100 Labour MPs coming up to campaign. I just see it a different way. He added: "I'm going to work with whoever is elected as the new leader in Scotland and I will look forward to working with them.
"I came to parliament after devolution and so I recognise not just the settled nature of the devolution settlement but also the case for further devolution." "We face big challenges to show how we can change Scotland, how we can change it economically, how we can change it so there are stronger powers for the Scottish Parliament."
Mr Miliband made a number of visits to Scotland ahead of the ballot on Scotland's future in the UK. He said he did not agree with Ms Lamont's "branch office" comments, but insisted he had "worked very well" with her during her three years as Scottish leader.
He campaigned alongside Ms Lamont and other high-profile politicians, including Jim Murphy MP, who has joined the leadership race. Mr Miliband said: "She made her decision to resign and as she said last week it is now time to move on, look ahead, elect a new leader and we face a big challenge."
So far two MSPs - Sarah Boyack and Neil Findlay - have also thrown their hats into the ring. He said it was right that Labour should continue to look at the arrangements between the UK and Scottish parties, which he said were always going to be an "evolving process".
Mr Miliband is expected to address the annual gala dinner. Mr Miliband was speaking shortly after an Ipsos/Mori poll for broadcaster STV suggested that the SNP is on course to win the most seats in Scotland at next year's general election, which would dramatically reduce Mr Miliband's chances of becoming the next prime minister.
On the Scottish Labour website, it says: "The voice of Scottish Labour will be crucial in the debate over Scotland's future, making this year's dinner more important than ever. The poll put the SNP on 52%, with Labour on just 23%, the Scottish Conservatives on 10%, the Liberal Democrats and Scottish Greens both on 6%, Ukip on 2% and others on 1%.
"The event attracts a variety of supporters, business people and celebrities, and promises to be an enjoyable evening." STV said the result would cut the number of Labour MPs in Scotland from 40 to just four, with the SNP increasing its number of seats at Westminster from six to 54.
Scottish Labour is scheduled to announce its new leader on Saturday 13 December. Responding to the poll, Mr Miliband said it showed the "scale of the challenge" that Labour faced, but insisted the party was "determined" to meet those challenges.
In the meantime, MP Anas Sarwar has temporarily taken over the reins. He added: "In the referendum, and it is important to note that there was a "No" vote in the referendum, I think people expressed their desire for big change. Whether they voted "No" or "Yes", people said we need to change the way we are governed and who we are governed for.
Of the 257 Labour MPs in the House of Commons, 41 represent constituencies in Scotland. "I want people to know that I am absolutely committed to that change. We can't just carry on as we are.
They will contest their seats along with all other MPs at next May's General Election. "We have got to change the way Scotland is governed, with stronger powers for the parliament, and who it is governed for so that people can make ends meet, can see their sons and daughters getting jobs and we can build a fairer country.
Labour also has 38 MSPs in Edinburgh's Holyrood parliament and they will seek re-election in 2016. "I believe we can do that across the United Kingdom. That is what the Scottish people voted for, but we have got a task to deliver and I am determined we do."
'Westminster establishment'
The SNP has seen its membership triple to more than 83,000 since last month's referendum, when voters rejected independence by 55% to 45%.
SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon, who will replace Alex Salmond as the country's first minister next month, said the Ipsos/Mori poll showed that Labour was in "meltdown" in Scotland.
She added: "More and more people are choosing to put their trust in the SNP as disillusion with the entire Westminster establishment grows.
"London Labour's treatment of their party in Scotland as nothing more than a branch office has left them in meltdown.
"As a result, people across the country realise that Ed Miliband doesn't speak for them and Labour support is in freefall."
Scottish Labour is scheduled to announce its new leader on Saturday 13 December. In the meantime, MP Anas Sarwar has temporarily taken over the reins.