Scottish Government Working for the People not Against Them

The Scottish Government’s recent statement on the budget highlights the stark contrast in approaches of the Scottish Government, and the opposition parties, including their Westminster cronies.

As a raft of Scottish Government announcements put jobs, growth and fairness at the heart of the Scottish Government’s spending priorities, at Westminster, the human cost of Tory/Lib Dem cuts to the welfare state were being laid bare and Nick Clegg was finally forced into a humiliating apology for breaking the Lib Dem promise on tuition fees.

The contrast between the Scottish and UK Governments could not be clearer.

There is no doubt we are living in incredibly tough financial times. However, while the UK Government stifles recovery and takes money from the most vulnerable in society, the Scottish budget has growth and fairness at its heart.

The Scottish Government announcement outlined a number of measures designed to boost jobs and protect those on the lowest incomes, including investment in construction, skills and the green economy, money brought forward for the Schools for the Future programme, a £40 million additional investment in affordable housing, £18 million for skills training and a modest wage increase for most public sector employees, and a commitment to uprate the living wage.

The Scottish Government also recognises the paramount importance of capital investment to support economic recovery. That’s why the hundreds of millions of pounds being poured into vital projects such as the new prison for Peterhead – supporting thousands of jobs in the process - are particularly welcome.

And of course the living wage, the council tax freeze, free prescriptions, concessionary travel and free university tuition are all helping to put money back into families’ pockets.

It is all the more disappointing then that the opposition parties, under orders from Westminster, obstinately refuse to support Scottish Government policy.

Indeed, this disparity in political and social outlook does not just exist between the Scottish Government and the UK Government. The increasingly neo-conservative Labour Party is just as far out of touch with the public conscience.

A baffling speech from Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont this week make it abundantly clear that the Labour party have dispensed with any remaining commitment to social welfare or public services.

In this speech Ms Lamont revealed her party’s desire to do away with everything from free care for the elderly to free prescription charges. She also underlined her wishes to impose tuition fees for university students reduce the number of modern apprenticeships and even end the council tax freeze.

The Labour party have shown their true colours on a variety of social and economic matters and confirmed the party’s dramatic swing toward the neo-conservative, in line with their Westminster bosses. While many people across the country already feel let down by the Labour party in recent years, this latest development will no doubt leave members feeling betrayed and is likely to swell the exodus from the party.

Suspicions of Labour’s slump to the right have abounded since the Labour party allied with the Liberal/Conservative coalition parties in the anti-independence collaboration. However, few could have foreseen how completely the Labour party would dispense with its supposed core philosophy.

This once again underlines the fact that the only party committed to defending high quality social services, education and healthcare in Scotland is the SNP.

Small wonder then that people in Scotland overwhelmingly trust the Scottish Government to make the right decisions for Scotland, while fewer than one in five trust the Westminster Government.
However, if we are to protect social services and our proud tradition of fairness, if we are to reject austerity and focus on economic growth as the solution to testing times, we must ensure that the people of Scotland have the means to do so. This, of course, requires full transfer of powers to Holyrood. After all, it is the people of Scotland who have the greatest stake in our country’s future, and only with independence can we achieve our full potential.