Humza is the right choice for FM job
With less than a week until Jeremy Hunt unveils his plans for the UK budget, the SNP is calling for a comprehensive package to boost household incomes and economic growth.
The only way forward is to put real money in people’s pockets and reverse the complete self-harm the Tories have caused to the economy and the cost-of-living crisis that they have created.
We are challenging the Chancellor to deliver the SNP’s five-point plan:
• Saving families £1,400 on energy bills – by cutting the Energy Price Guarantee to £2000 and maintaining the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme to the summer.
• Raising public sector pay and benefits by CPI – putting money into the pockets of millions of workers and delivering Barnett consequentials for Scottish spending.
• Scrapping Tory plans to raise the pension age to 68 and reinstating the Triple Lock – so no one must struggle in old age.
• Rejoining the European Single Market – to boost economic growth and halt the multi-billion-pound longterm damage being caused by Brexit.
• Investing in green growth – by competing with EU and US subsidies to attract green investment.
In addition to the headroom that has been identified by the IFS, and the billions of pounds saved as a result of the falling wholesale price of gas, SNP MPs are calling for the Chancellor to scrap non-dom tax status, tax share buy backs, and expand the windfall tax, which would raise billions more to fund cost of living support for ordinary households in
Renfrewshire.
The Scottish Government can only mitigate so much with limited powers, and it does, delivering the Scottish Child Payment, higher energy bill support, and higher public sector pay.
We are seeing the constraints that UK cuts have had on the Scottish budget and the knock-on impact that this is now having on local authorities all over Scotland.
The blame lies firmly at the door of the UK Government, the SNP have come forward with a solution to help families now.
The SNP’s five-point plan would reduce bills, raise incomes and boost economic growth, at a time when many families are struggling to get by.
With energy companies making record profits and the wholesale price of gas falling, there is no excuse for the Tories failing to act.
They have a choice to elevate families out of poverty and they choose not to.
The SNP is currently going through a leadership contest and this is a crucial time for Scotland, and I have pledged my support to Humza Yousaf MSP to be the next leader of the SNP.
Humza is the only candidate that can take our party and our country forward.
His vision of a progressive and fairer independent Scotland is one which I share.
His concrete commitment to maintain our proindependence majority at Holyrood is a critical factor in how we ramp up the campaign for independence.
Humza has the skills, experience and resilience needed to lead and I look forward to helping him take that message to our membership in the coming weeks.