Ahead of election day on 4 July, the Student sat down with Ian Murray, the Scottish Labour Party candidate for Edinburgh South, to find out his views on issues close to students.
Growing up in a Wester Hailes council estate and studying at the University of Edinburgh, Murray entered Westminster as the MP for Edinburgh South in 2010.
Murray was the only Scottish Labour MP to retain his seat during his party’s wipeout in the 2015 and 2019 general elections.
Reflecting on changes in Labour’s electoral chances, Murray said he “wouldn’t have thought it possible four years ago”.
“I think it shows you how far we’ve come and how far we’ve come to meet the voters where they are on a whole host of issues.”
A vocal critic of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbin, Murray nearly joined the ill-fated breakaway party, Change UK, in 2019.
Murray rejected parallels between his criticism of Corbyn-era factionalism and recent claims that Labour’s current leader, Kier Starmer, has used candidate de-selection to bolster his own centre-left faction.
He said:
“[I]t wasn’t about factions or left or right. It was just about the most appropriate people that were able to abide by the rules.”
Cost of Living
Asked how Labour would tackle the cost of living crisis, he pointed to Labour’s plan to replace the national minimum wage with a “genuine living wage” for those over 18.
Murray proposed that UK students in Edinburgh should – like those studying in London – receive weighted monetary support to reflect higher costs.
While housing is devolved to the Scottish parliament, Murray said, “until you build your way out of this crisis of housing cost, it’s only going to get worse”.
Climate Change
According to Murray, Labour’s green prosperity plan would “permanently lower bills”.
The creation of GB Energy – a publicly-owned energy company investing in renewable energy and emerging technologies – is central to these plans.
However, Labour has faced criticism for watering down plans to invest £28 billion annually in green projects. Responding to the criticism, Murray said:
“I cannot say and emphasise enough the policy for a green prosperity plan has not changed.”
Instead, he said the figure was from “different times” before they realised the scale of private investment available.
He also criticised Labour’s opponents, saying “they’ve now said they would spend £28 billion because they can.”
“[T]hey are creating a poison in politics by promising stuff that they know they can’t deliver.”
University Funding
Murray said “a serious debate” on higher education funding was needed.
He explained that underfunding has led universities to balance their funding with fee-paying international students, adding:
“Then they’ve got to have somewhere to live, which pushes up prices for everyone, which means the cost of living crisis for students gets worse so the entire funding model for universities is broke.”
Israel-Gaza Conflict
Murray said Labour would “play a very active role” internationally towards resolving the conflict in Gaza.
Outlining Labour’s approach, Murray said it entails supporting an immediate ceasefire, getting “unfettered aid into Gaza” and the exchange of hostages in hopes of achieving a “permanent peace”.
As part of a two-state solution, Labour would recognise Palestinian statehood.
Labour have faced criticism by opponents for waiting until February to call for an immediate ceasefire. On this, Murray said Labour was “trying to do was to back what was already in place” in the UN around humanitarian intervention.
He added that the passing of the SNP’s immediate ceasefire motion by Westminster’s opposition parties in February was “hugely significant”.
Electoral Chances and Achievements
Before the election, Murray sat on the opposition benches as Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland.
Questioned on how he would ensure Scotland’s voice was heard under a Labour government, he said:
“We’ve had too much of protest and not enough of power…”
On his proudest achievement from opposition, Murray mentioned getting changes to the law around Gift Aid on cash donations, a change “worth £100 million to charities over the last 10 years”.
Message to Students
Appealing directly to student voters, Murray said:
“We want to make sure that the country’s best days are ahead of it… but in order to do that, they’ve got to vote for it.”
“[Help] us to kick out the conservative Government, deliver Scottish Labour MPs at the heart of that government, and therefore your voice at the heart of government rather than opposition.”
“File:Official portrait of Ian Murray.jpg” by Chris McAndrew is licensed under CC BY 3.0.
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