Murphy plays Scottish card to prevent Labour disaster in May

Jim Murphy, Scottish Labour's new leader, plans to rewrite the party's constitution to emphasise its autonomy from London and roots in a distinct Scottish political identity, a move aimed at shoring up slumping support ahead of May's UK general election.

Polls suggest Labour could lose many of the 40 Westminster seats it holds in Scotland next May, potentially killing its hopes of forming the next UK government, and Mr Murphy believes a big problem is that it is not seen as sufficiently Scottish.

Mr Murphy, a Westminster MP and former secretary of state for Scotland who was comfortably elected Scottish Labour leader on Saturday, wants to revise Clause Four of the party's constitution to declare that it "represents Scotland first".

The revision, to be put to a conference in March, should help to counter efforts by the Scottish National party to cast itself as the only party that can stand up for Scotland.

"Some people feel they can't be Labour and make a patriotic choice," Mr Murphy said in remarks released in advance of his first speech as party leader. "I want to rewrite Clause Four of Scottish Labour to bring us closer to the centre of Scottish life."

However, the changes risk reinforcing perceptions of differences of political philosophy between Scotland and the other nations of the UK. The idea that people in Scotland favour more progressive policies than those in England in particular was a big theme of pro-independence campaigning ahead of September's referendum.

"We are a socialist party yes, but we recognise that our political faith grew out of something deeper, which is ingrained in our Scottish character," Mr Murphy said.

"A belief that we stand together, look after those who need our help, and make sure that everyone gets a fair shout."

The new leader cited as examples of the deeper roots of the party's Scottish identity the egalitarian 18th century poetry of Robert Burns, pioneering cotton mill reformers at New Lanark and resistance to population clearances in the Scottish Highlands.

Sceptics who stress the shared history and values of the UK member nations are likely to point out that all Mr Murphy's examples date from after the 1707 union of the Scottish and English parliaments and all were part of political trends that affected all parts of the British Isles.

However, the pressing need to counter the SNP means Mr Murphy may not face much resistance in his efforts to stress Labour's Scottishness, even from the staunchest supporters of a unified UK.

Support for the SNP has surged despite victory for pro-union parties in September's referendum on independence. A YouGov survey published by The Sun newspaper on Saturday found 47 per cent of Scottish voters intended to back the SNP in May, compared with just 27 per cent for Labour.

Mr Murphy said his revised constitution would "not give up on our belief in active solidarity with people across the United Kingdom and around the world", but that it would make clear London could not interfere on policy areas devolved to the Scottish parliament.

"Policy will be made in Scotland, for Scotland, by our Scottish party, putting the needs of Scotland first," he said.

On Sunday, Mr Murphy insisted that Labour could hold all its Westminster seats, in part by emphasising its commitment to social justice and by embracing new powers promised to the Scottish government.

Nicola Sturgeon, the new SNP first minister of Scotland, will on Monday hold her first talks with David Cameron, UK prime minister.

The Scottish government said Ms Sturgeon would push for rapid action to devolve powers that would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in the 2016 election to the Scottish parliament as promised under a cross-party deal brokered by Lord Smith of Kelvin.

While pushing forward with implementation of the Smith devolution package, the Conservatives will next week publish proposals that would ban MPs from Scottish constituencies from having the final say on legislation that does not affect Scotland.

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