Don’t leave us behind in covid fightback
Calls have been made for a fairer deal for struggling west of Scotland communities.
Paisley politician Neil Bibby wants to see the Scottish Government take action to address historic “inequalities” compounded by the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Labour MSP made the call after accusing the Holyrood administration of scrapping targets designed to help close the employment gap between Scotland’s wealthiest and poorest regions.
He pushed for Scottish ministers to take action and push regional disparity back up the political agenda, as he raised the issue during Finance and Economy Questions in the Scottish Parliament recently.
The West Scotland list MSP said: “Crisis-hit communities cannot be left behind as Scotland builds out of the covid crisis.
“The pandemic has hit parts of the west harder than the country as a whole and shone a light on entrenched inequalities holding our region back.
“Parts of the west of Scotland experience the highest unemployment and the greatest deprivation in the entire country.
“The economy isn’t working for the west and, if government is seriously going to build back to something better, then it must confront regional inequalities neglected for too long.”
He added: “Clear, ambitious, new targets can drive change and put the gap between Scotland’s regions back on the political agenda.
“The west deserves a much fairer deal from the Scottish Government, with our fair share of investment and a stronger recovery that works for the west’s left-behind communities.”
The west of Scotland includes some of the most deprived communities in Scotland and is home to many areas with higher than average unemployment.
He spoke out as the Scottish Government said regional policy would feature in its covid recovery strategy.
Richard Lochhead, Holyrood’s Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work, hit back during the exchange in Parliament, saying: “I take a great interest in regional policy.
“It is difficult for the member to say that we have not been implementing regional policy, given that we have agreed more than £1.9billion of funding for city region and regional growth deals across Scotland.
“Regional partners anticipate that will support more than 80,000 jobs and attract more than £1billion of additional investment across Scotland’s cities and regions.
“Regional policy is very important. The government is looking at Scotland’s economic transformation over the next ten years.”