MSP’s comments were “flippant”

I was quite astonished by Clare Haughey’s flippant comments in last week’s Reformer regarding the one per cent public sector pay cap in Scotland.

Clare Haughey’s SNP government are responsible for 85 per cent of Scotland’s public sector workers and their pay. The SNP have happily played along with Westminster with this cap and watched as public sector workers have not only had their resources cut, but little or no pay rise. In the last year alone, over 40,000 public sector workers in Scotland were subjected to violence.

I might be cynical, but at a time when SNP are in freefall - having failed to secure overall control of any Scottish councils, lost their majority in Holyrood and more recently, lost approximately half a million voters and 21 seats in Westminster (in two short years) - they now decide to make small noises about public sector pay. Add to this, the very public dressing down Nicola Sturgeon received from a nurse in a televised general election debate.

I have no idea why Clare Haughey - a member of Scottish Parliament, thought discussing Wales was relevant. She doesn’t represent the Welsh public. Wales has less powers in their parliament and the first minister of Wales is quite vocal regarding the pay cap - indeed he’s given costings for lifting the cap in the NHS.

On May 10, 2017, less than three months ago, there was a vote in the Scottish Parliament on lifting the pay cap for nurses. Clare Haughey shamefully did not put workers first or Scotland’s NHS, but her own SNP party and refused to give Scotland’s NHS nurses a pay rise.

If you are going to use the slogan ‘Stronger for Scotland’ then it would be good if this went into practice. Talk is cheap and in-work poverty is very real and very right now. Scotland’s public sector workers deserve better and have for a few years now.

EA Callaghan Freeneuk Wynd Cambuslang