The SNP have demanded that Labour come clean over their plans for Holyrood after Ian Murray said he does not support any further powers being devolved.

In an interview published today the shadow Scottish secretary said he was not in favour of a Labour UK government giving new powers to Holyrood, such as employment law, despite Scottish Labour backing the move.

The parry have previously rejected devolving immigration powers to Scotland - a key demand by the Scottish Government which believes the move would help attract more workers to fill gap in the certain sectors of the economy and generate increased public revenue through more people paying income tax.

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But Murray said the focus should be on the Scottish Government using their existing powers better.

He was asked if he is persuaded that a Labour Government should devolve more power to Holyrood.

He said: “Not personally, no. I think we've got to try and make it work better. Scottish Government need to use the powers that it's got.

“I don't think a discussion about devolution should be about individual powers anymore. I think it should be about what's currently used and how Holyrood can become much better.”

His comments come after Anas Sarwar told a fringe meeting at the Labour conference in Liverpool that any constitutional changes should be made swiftly by a new Labour government and pointed to how Tony Blair's administration re-established the Scottish Parliament two years after it won the 1997 election.

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However, Mr Sarwar failed to mention any specific new powers he would like to see for Holyrood after being repeatedly pressed on the issue by The Herald.

Scottish Labour backs the devolution of employment law, with Mr Sarwar saying it could be ‘phase 2’ of a Keir Starmer Government.

But Mr Murray said of Mr Sarwar’s “phase two” comments: “In that sense, it's not about devolution in that way.”

He said Labour’s “new deal" for working people across the UK would be the most positive change to workers’ rights in a century.

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He told the Record: “If you then create that floor, which is quite a high bar in terms of the floor, then there is an argument to say, well, could you let the devolved authorities then go beyond that floor if they so wished?”

He said Holyrood being able to go further on the minimum wage would be promoting existing voluntary schemes.

“So it wouldn't be a legislative power, but they can still do things like that already - of course it's on a voluntary basis - but it's worked for large numbers of people.”

He said: “I just think it's really difficult to try and come to a rounded view on these things when we haven't even done the first stage yet.”

SNP MSP Collette Stevenson said Mr Sarwar must stand up against "his Westminster bosses" and show he is truly committed to protecting devolution and delivering the further powers to Holyrood he has promised voters across Scotland.

“We've seen the Tories repeatedly attempt to undermine the future of the Scottish Parliament and expect it from them, but to have Labour now confessing to it is staggering," she said.

“Anas Sarwar and his Scottish Labour MSPs have promised people across this country that Labour will empower Holyrood to legislate on vital areas such as employment law – it is crucial he now comes out and opposes these comments from his Westminster bosses.

“Power over employment laws would allow the Scottish Parliament to increase the national minimum wages, extend sick pay, and ban fire and rehire – for Labour to be against those questions whether they really are a party of working people.

“It's increasingly clear that whether the Tories or Labour are in charge, Westminster can't be trusted on devolution, and the only way to protect the Scottish Parliament from power grabs is with independence.”

Mr Sarwarold a fringe meeting at the Labour conference that constitutional reforms should be made early if Labour wins power at Westminster.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown published his report on the UK's Future last year which included plans to abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected second chamber, an assembly of regions and nations. The document did not advance any new powers for Holyrood.

The Lords' proposal could meet resistance among members of the upper house, which has a Conservative majority, prompting Mr Sarwar said any other changes should not wait for Lords reform. 

"Of course you have to do constitutional reform properly. You can't rush it and move in a haphazard way....but the challenge we are going to have is that there is a public demand to change the way we do our democracy," he told the meeting in Liverpool.

"I think if you think back to the 1997 government they didn't wait to do reform around our constitution. We had the Scottish Parliament in 1999 having won the election in 1997. That was a huge constitutional reform that came quickly."

He added that governments have "political capital in those early days" to make "big, bold radical change" that governments didn't have the chance to do in their latter days.

"There are certain things we will have to do very very quickly," he said. "Resetting the relationship has to happen immediately." 

He also suggested that the party would consider plans to introduce directly elected mayors in Scotland after figures such as Andy Burnham in Manchester had proved popular and an effective voice for their area.

The Scottish Labour leader was asked by The Herald what the key priorities would be for devolution reform under a UK Labour government.

He replied: "The number one priority when we hopefully get into government next year, is how do we get devolution working again. And that means it's not two governments fighting with each other, going for conflict and failing Scotland but actually trying to get some co-operation back, so we can deliver for the people of Scotland.

"I think that reset is so important....We have a UK government right now that is anti devolution and the Labour party that created devolution and strengthened devolution."

He added that there could also be more devolution from Holyrood to councils with more financial powers given to local authorities. 

"Every layer needs reform, the Lords needs reform with a council of nations and regions, Westminster needs reform, power is pushed out from Westminster and there is a change in relationship between the UK government and the Scottish and Welsh governments.

"Holyrood needs reform both in terms of how it operates. The culture of secrecy and cover-up in the Scottish Parliament - that needs to change - and then local government needs to be reformed and strengthened."

He was then pressed by The Herald that when people think of devolution, they think of new powers for Holyrood, and was asked if he was suggesting any new powers. He did not suggest any new specific powers in his response.

"I would point you to the Brown commission, it set out some of though issues we have looked at. The broader point is that there is not a single layer of our government that doesn't need reforms, the Lords needs reformed, Holyrood needs reformed, and local government needs reformed," he said.

Mr Murray, who would likely be Scottish Secretary if Mr Starmer becomes PM, pointed out that the Brown Commission did not focus on Holyrood’s powers:

“The two big devolution parts in Gordon Brown's commission is to England, in terms of individual regions to England, and devolution out of Holyrood into Scottish local authorities and local communities.

“It was never supposed to be a menu of devolving powers individually to Holyrood.”
 

He said the Scotland Office under Mr Starmer would become the “Scottish people's department in Whitehall”.

He criticised the breakdown in relations between both Governments and said he hoped Labour could reach a compromise on difficult issues.

On the row over the Scottish Government’s deposit return scheme, which was blocked by UK Ministers, he said: “That could be resolved. And the issues around the resolution of that are just quite clear. Producers want some kind of consistent scheme across the UK. Consumers would want some consistency across the UK.”

Mr Murray also touched on the bitter dispute on the Holyrood law on gender recognition reform, which will be decided in the courts.

Asked if he would be willing to sit down with the SNP-led Government to see if a compromise could be found, he said: “I think everybody would. The Scottish Government, whether we like a piece of legislation, they passed a piece of legislation, the voters can decide whether or not they like it. If there are solutions that can be done, then fair enough.”

An STUC spokesman said: “Devolving employment law can act as a key component in any Labour New Deal for Workers. We welcome what Keir Starmer has put forward but that does not exclude, nor deny, the right of the Scottish Parliament and our movement to seek to legislate further on employment law, borrowing powers and immigration policy.

“If the party of devolution is to stick true to its name, then enhancing democracy in Scotland is a non-negotiable that we look forward to working with them to achieve."