A better future for all with these New Year revolutions
AS WE mark the end of 2018 and the beginning of a new year, I want to wish a very happy Hogmanay to all Record readers and to families across Scotland.
For many of us, the New Year provides an opportunity to reflect on the past 12 months and start afresh by setting goals for the year ahead.
In that spirit, as we head into a crucial year for the future of Scotland, I want to suggest three New Year’s resolutions for the Tory Government – and make some commitments from the SNP.
Above all, with less than three months to go until the UK is due to crash out of the EU on March 29, Theresa May must finally start doing the right thing by the country when it comes to Brexit – instead of only acting in the narrow interests of the Tory Party.
We know from the UK Government’s analysis that the Prime Minister’s damaging Brexit deal would destroy jobs, squeeze living standards, hit public services and harm the economy.
There is no majority in Parliament for this worst-of-all-worlds deal and it would be utterly reckless and completely unacceptable for the Tory leader to run down the clock and blackmail the country into accepting her bad deal – for fear of an even worse No-Deal outcome.
It’s time to end the chaos. The PM must finally bring forward the vote on her failed deal so Parliament can reject it and get on with delivering a better outcome.
The SNP will never accept the false choice between a bad deal and no deal at all – we can do better than this.
It is time for the UK Government to extend Article 50 and bring forward a second EU referendum with the option to remain in the EU. That is by far the best deal of all, and it is the only way to protect jobs and living standards.
Second, the Westminster establishment parties must ditch their toxic obsession with attacking immigration and doing down the contribution that EU citizens have made to our country.
The UK Government’s latest harebrained scheme is to slash immigration to Scotland by up to 85 per cent – a move that would be devastating for our NHS, our public finances, the economy and society. It would plunge our working-age population into decline and leave Scotland poorer and worse off.
Ending freedom of movement is in no one’s interests – it would remove the rights of Scottish people to live, work and study across Europe, and introducing an arbitrary cap on immigration to Scotland would starve our public services and businesses of the workers that they need.
While the Tories and Labour compete with UKIP and the BNP in a race to the bottom on immigration, the SNP will continue to defend the huge benefits it brings us all.
If Westminster is unwilling or unable to act in Scotland’s interests on immigration, it must devolve the powers so we can get on with building a system that meets our needs and values.
Finally, as we move into 2019, it is vital the UK Government finally end their austerity policies, which have held back the economy and done so much damage.
After a decade of Tory cuts, the rich have got richer while the poor have got poorer.
This is not the kind of society we want to see – and it is vital that the UK Government now deliver much-needed investment to boost incomes and support public services.
That must include introducing a real living wage for all workers, reversing the benefits freeze, ending abhorrent policies like the rape clause and twochild cap, and undoing the cuts to Scotland’s Budget.
After years of Tory Brexit chaos and harmful Westminster policies, which have trampled over Scotland’s democratic wishes and damaged our interests, it is vital that 2019 is a year of radical change. If the UK Government again fail to deliver then the case for Scotland’s independence will become stronger still.