Contrasting party conferences... and approaches
Last weekend, the SNP held its annual conference.
For the first time since the Covid pandemic, delegates from all over the country were able to gather in person to attend events, vote on resolutions and hear speeches from our elected representatives.
On Sunday, I was given the opportunity to address the conference.
During my speech, I outlined the steps that the Scottish Government is taking to build a stronger, fairer, greener Scotland and the measures that we are putting in place to address the cost of living crisis.
I also compared the strong, responsible leadership of Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Government with the unmitigated chaos of the UK government and the huge economic damage that has been done under the premiership of Liz Truss.
The contrast could not be clearer. While the Scottish Government has taken bold action to help ordinary households, such as increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £25 per week and expanding its eligibility criteria, the UK government chose to sabotage our economy in the name of tax cuts for the wealthiest in society.
And while the SNP conference showed a united, outward-looking party, last week’s calamitous
Conservative party conference laid bare everything wrong with the Tory party.
Their conference was beset with dehumanising language (the Home Secretary’s apparent “dream”of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda), last-minute U-turns (the Chancellor’s decision to abandon the abolition of the 45p tax rate) and bitter in-fighting amongst MPs.
It was, undoubtedly, the worst party conference I have ever witnessed.
And, tragically, we know that this Tory circus is only going to get worse.
In the midst of the worst cost of living crisis in memory, the Conservatives have appointed an ultra-right wing Prime Minister who has made no secret of her desire to slash public spending.
Already, Liz Truss has failed to confirm that she will make good on the Tories’pledge to increase benefits in line with inflation.
Should this pledge not be honoured, research suggests an additional 450,000 people would be living in poverty in 2023-24.
Moreover, we know that the only way that Liz Truss will be able to afford her tax cuts will be through devastating spending cuts.
Make no mistake, we are facing another era of austerity.