Corbyn attacks Sturgeon over tackling poverty

JEREMY Corbyn accused the SNP of failing on poverty, education and health and of devolving austerity to people in Scotland.

In his speech to the Labour Party Conference in Perth, the UK Labour leader said that the SNP wants to focus on another independence referendum the people in Scotland do not want.

Mr Corbyn accused Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Government of failing to stand up to the Tories and instead accused them of being guilty of doing Theresa May’s work for her by refusing to use the new devolved powers to increase taxes to pay for public services.

Mr Corbyn said the SNP goverment had pre- sided over a “failure to tackle poverty and inequality”

He said: “There are 220,000 Scottish children , nearly a quarter of a million, now living in poverty.

“And the health of Scotland’s children, most often the poorest , is among the worst in Europe.”

He said the SNP had cut local councils by £1.5bn since 2011.

Mr Corbyn added: “This isn’t a record to be proud of.

“The SNP could do something about all of this.

“They have the powers to raise taxes to tackle these problems. To help lift our children out of poverty and to help our elderly get the social care they need and help our councils provide the public services their people rely on.

Mr Corbyn said instead, the SNP cut £170m from councils this year.

He added: “The SNP like to say they are standing up for Scotland.

“But they are standing by and devolving Tory austerity to every doorstep in Scotland.”