Earlier today, I spoke in the debate on the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2024-2025.
The Programme for Government is designed to be realistic and robust, addressing the limitations imposed by 16 years of austerity from successive UK governments.
As a then-Glasgow City Councillor in 1997, I remember the first New Labour budget bringing in cuts, redundancies, and imposing tuition fees without any mandate. Déjà Vu creeps in as we see this new Labour UK government’s political choices harming Scotland’s ability to deliver public services and hammering household budgets.
The Scottish Government already spends £133.7 million a year mitigating the worst excesses of UK austerity and welfare cuts. Increased energy bills and the withdrawal of the Winter Fuel Payment will put even more strain on these efforts.
For Scotland to escape the cycle of UK Government cuts we must widen our tax base by growing our economy. We need a focus on innovation, research and development, and start-ups. Scotland has the talent, skills, and many facilities essential to becoming Europe’s fastest-growing start-up economies.
Stimulating economic growth will enable public service delivery to the high standard expected by Scotland’s people.
You can watch my speech by clicking on the graphic.
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