Remember the Scottish Budget

AMID the extraordinary chaos of Westminster and Brexit, you could be forgiven for forgetting all about the Scottish Government’s Budget plans.

This year’s announcement took place at a time of political divisiveness and uncertainty. However, the SNP in government are still delivering a Budget that protects Scotland from the worst effects of Brexit and continuing Tory austerity - against a backdrop of the UK Government cutting £2 billion, over the last 10 years from their budget.

This budget is part of the positive vision we as MSPs have for Scotland, and is particularly beneficial to citizens of Edinburgh.

Funding for NHS Lothian will increase by more than £57 million this year – to £1.4 billion in 2019/20. This extra funding will give our wonderful NHS staff and hospitals a boost, and help them deliver first-class care to patients.

Holyrood has also pledged £187 million worth of investment in City Deals across the country, including the Edinburgh and South-East Regional City Deal.

As just some examples of the transformative possibilities of the City Deal, there will be huge investment in public transport infrastructure, 41,000 houses will be built in Edinburgh, and the city will reap the benefits from a new concert venue – a home for the SCO.

It is more important than ever that we continue working towards our ambition of an excellent and fully accessible public transport so I was particularly pleased to see The Scottish Government committing to the delivery of the electrification of the train line from Edinburgh to Glasgow via Shotts, which runs through my constituency.

This Budget delivers the public services, cultural development, and economic investment that the people of Edinburgh have rightly come to expect, whilst mitigating the worst of the Tories’ harmful agenda of austerity, and the uncertainty of what Brexit will mean for Scotland.