Why I won’t budge on this new budget
Every year the most heated debates in Parliament tend to be about the budget. This year is no different.
Just before Christmas the Scottish Government came forward with their draft budget for 2017/18. This is the first budget that will benefit from the use of the extensive new powers the Scottish Parliament has received following the Smith Agreement.
These new powers give us the opportunity to take a different path from that which has been taken by the Conservatives at Westminster.
Unfortunately, the Scottish Government decided against using these powers, which could deliver an anti-austerity budget, and instead has decided to pass on cuts to our councils and local communities.
Scottish Labour want to take a different approach. Using the new powers, we want to ask those with the broadest shoulders to pay a little bit extra and to use that money to invest in our public services and grow our economy. That is why I voted for an amendment to introduce a 50p top rate of tax and a penny for public services and voted against a budget that I believe will pass on austerity to our local communities.
Scottish Labour’s position has been clear. We will not vote for cuts to public services when we have the powers to take a different direction. This was the pledge that I was elected on during last year’s Scottish Parliament elections and it is a pledge that I intend to keep.
Since 2011 local governments have seen cuts of more than £1billion from the SNP Government and they have taken a bigger proportion of cuts. That is real cuts to vital services you use day in, day out.
Our proposals would have raised around £600m for public services. Money for more teachers and support staff in our schools, for better social care and for care visits that last longer than 15 minutes.
The budget is also about growing our economy. The more cuts to Scotland’s budget the more harm to our economy, to the prospects of our young people, to jobs and to local services.
We need to ensure Scotland is still able to not only compete, but be at the forefront of the economy of the future. This means funding to ensure the young people of today have the skills needed to compete for the jobs of tomorrow. It means investing in the infrastructure projects that are essential to businesses across the region. And it is about attracting and securing investment in a globalised world.
One of the greatest resources we have in Scotland is our people. We need to make sure we have a highskilled, well educated workforce that can continue to compete on the world stage. Stirling and its university can help lead that charge. But to do so we need investment, not cuts.
Last week the budget passed the first stage, and looks set to pass all stages at Holyrood, after the SNP and Greens came to an agreement.
Yet this agreement will still see millions of pounds of cuts to councils across the country, including Stirling, which will stifle opportunity and restrict growth. That is why I could not support it.