Under starter’s orders
Scotland’s political leaders yesterday issued their New Year messages to the nation. They look forward to the European Championships being held in Glasgow and Scotland’s Year of Young People. Calls for more tolerance and an end to austerity and inequality
Nicola Sturgeon First Minister
2018 is Scotland’s Year of Young People. We’ll be celebrating young people, and the incredible contribution that they make to Scotland, in events the length and breadth of the country – from Shetland right down to the Scottish Borders.
Young people have been at the heart of planning the year which, as well as being a great celebration in its own right, symbolises our desire to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up.
That is why we’re increasing childcare provision; working to raise attainment in schools; improving care services for children; and investing in skills and training for young people as they enter the workforce.
In 2018, we will also take steps to strengthen young people’s rights and ensure that they have an even louder voice in decisions about their own lives.
The Year of Young People is just one of the things we have to look forward to in 2018. Glasgow and Scotland will welcome thousands of athletes for the European Championships – the biggest sporting event to be held here since the Commonwealth Games.
Major events make a significant contribution to our economy. We will do even more over the next year to promote economic growth and to make Scotland a leader in new industries and technologies.
We will develop a new investment bank, invest in research and development, extend the reach of electric vehicles and support new entrepreneurs – while delivering a new social security system, improving our schools and investing in our National Health Service.
By investing for the future – and, in particular, by celebrating and supporting our young people – we’re working to ensure that the years ahead are bright ones for Scotland.
So my hope is that 2018 will be a fantastic year – for our young people and for all of us.
Ruth Davidson Scottish Conservatives
Every festive period, people look forward to a decent break and time spent with loved ones. But to allow for that to happen, others are still at work.
The emergency services who keep us safe. The road gritters who stop accidents from happening in the first place and the train drivers and all-night garage employees there to ensure we can get where we need to go. To them, thank you. 2017 was another busy political year in Scotland with elections at local government and Westminster parliament level. The public have been patient with a politics of turmoil. But as we turn the page on the year that’s past, we look forward to what’s in store for us in 2018. While politics will continue, other events will take centre stage. Glasgow hosting the European Championships, Team Scotland competing at the Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast and the officially designated Year of Young People. In 2018, I hope all of us will be inspired by the endeavour of our athletes, the warmth of our host city and the energy of the next generation. Scotland has a lot to look forward to.
Richard Leonard Scottish Labour
2017 marked the 20th anniversary of the devolution referendum, so it is time to take stock on whether it has met all the aspirations those of us who campaigned for it set it.
The Parliament wasn’t designed as a talking shop – it was to be a place which offered the people of Scotland a different path if we felt we needed to choose one.
The last seven years of Tory austerity have made the need to do things radically differently an increasingly acute one.
But the SNP have been a timid, managerial government, content to be a conveyor belt for Tory austerity rather than a bulwark against it.
Scottish Labour’s focus on using the powers of the Parliament has won the argument but the Scottish Government need to be more radical to make the real change the people of Scotland need.
The coming year will see Labour push the Government even harder to make those desperately needed changes and make the Parliament work in the interests of the unemployed, the dispossessed, the homeless, those struggling in poverty and all those whose lives are currently pre-destined because of where they’re born.
It is also the Year of Young People and it is a year when we will demand more action to turn the lives round of young people with experience of care.
Tackling inequality and poverty, particularly child poverty, is at the heart of Scottish Labour’s mission – and should be at the heart of Scottish society too.
That’s about the development of an industrial strategy to kickstart sustainable economic development. It’s also about a fresh look at the distribution of wealth in Scotland, which is fuelling widening inequality.
Willie Rennie Scottish Liberal Democrats
In recent years, we have witnessed the forces of division making advances in the court of public opinion.
It has made our country more introspective and insular instead of the outward-looking, optimistic nation it has traditionally been.
In 2018, it is my ambition to make sure the forces of openness and tolerance start winning the argument again.
We should begin with immigration. It is good for our social fabric, culture and economy. Bringing people here from across the globe enriches us with talented and energetic people who want to give to their new home as well as enjoy the benefits of our society.
There should be no more to fear from people who have the drive to travel here for hundreds of miles than your neighbours who have lived here all their life.
We should also make the case for international aid. Of course some of it will be misspent but just because some NHS funding is misspent doesn’t mean that we should shut down the local hospital.
International aid is our global responsibility as one of the richest nations on the planet but it is also enlightened self-interest. Tackling poverty and improving health and education across the world creates a stable planet, which is good for the UK.
And we should make the case for working in alliance with our neighbours, whether that is in Britain, Europe or across the world.
Let’s hunt for what we have in common and make that work rather than always dwelling on our differences.
Sticking together is always best when facing mighty global challenges on the environment, corruption and poverty.
So let’s set ourselves the challenge of making our country a better place to live in 2018.