Speaking at the Scottish Labour Party Conference in Inverness, she insisted that no-one who committed a crime would be above the law.

"So if legislation is needed to deal with corporate killing, we will bring forward legislation,' she said. "Too many people have told me that the scales of justice have tipped too far in favour of the lawbreaking few."

In his address to the conference, Bill Speirs, general secretary of the Scottish TUC, highlighted workplace health and safety. He said while safety law was still a matter for the Westminster parliament, the Scottish Executive and unions had been worked together to secure practical improvements. He added that Scotland's safety record was worse than in the UK as a whole, yet there were fewer prosecutions for safety breaches. These issues and others 'such as the introduction of a specific offence of corporate culpable homicide, are being taken forward in a positive way by the Executive,' he said.