Sometimes you have to sit down and talk if you want to get things done.
By any metric the SNP are failing the people of Scotland. An early election had already been ruled out (Labour are abstaining). It’s why all along we’ve been trying to shape the Scottish Budget to unpick some of the damage the SNP have done over the last 18 years.
The result? Our priorities will now be backed by hundreds of millions of pounds of government investment. Thanks to the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the Scottish Budget now includes:
Further investment in drugs and neonatal services totalling £2.6m, with a special focus on creating new services to help babies who are born addicted to drugs. As a youth worker, I saw first-hand how substance addiction blighted the lives of newborns and mothers, so I know just how transformational this investment will be.
£3.5m so that colleges can deliver the skills our economy and public services need, with new programmes focused on care and offshore wind to create a pipeline of skilled workers.
Allocating in the budget £700k worth of support for the young people with complex and additional needs attending Corseford College in Renfrewshire, and at least the same amount again the next year.
£5m for hospices.
Ahead of the Infrastructure Investment Plan, we’ve persuaded the Scottish Government to look much more closely at replacing the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick, Kilmaron Special School in Cupar and Newburgh Railway Station in Fife.
This is all on top of what Scottish Liberal Democrats secured in the first rounds of talks:
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The reinstatement of a winter fuel payment for pensioners.>
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Extra funding for social care.
Additional funding for local healthcare to make it easier to see a GP or NHS dentist.
Funding for new specialist support across the country for Long Covid, ME, Chronic Fatigue and other similar conditions.
The right for family carers to earn more without having support withdrawn.
Progress on business rates relief for the hospitality sector.>
Funding to build more affordable homes.
Ringfenced agriculture funding.
More money for local council services.
Enhanced support for local authorities operating ferry services.
More money for additional support needs to help pupils and their teachers.
Replacements for the Edinburgh Eye Pavilion and the Belford Hospital in Fort William.
It’s a long list that will improve the lot of our constituents, and of people right across Scotland, which is why we will be backing this year’s Scottish Budget.
We cannot underestimate the importance of getting things done, especially in the current climate. Right now, public services are on their knees, the direct casualties of the SNP’s mismanagement. You can see it in the people ringing their GP surgeries hundreds of times a day to get an appointment, the care homes struggling to find staff and Scottish education slipping down the international rankings. Many businesses are struggling to make ends meet and affordable housebuilding has collapsed.
This budget offered a chance to undo some of that damage. It would have been irresponsible for us, as elected representatives with voices in Parliament, to just outright dismiss that opportunity. So, what we have achieved in the pages of the budget is proof positive that by backing the Liberal Democrats, you get a local champion who will sweat the things that matter.
The SNP have been in power for too long and they have lost sight of what is important. In our hearts, we know that Scotland desperately needs a change of government. The route to that is the Holyrood elections in less than 18 months’ time where the polls all show we have a big opportunity to take a giant leap forward. I can’t wait.
Over many years, Scottish Liberal Democrats have shown that we are vociferous critics of the SNP. Our support for the budget does not change that. It is simply a reflection that sometimes, in politics, you need to sit down and talk if you want to get things done.
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One Comment
I agree with the decision but not the timing – why have we not been willing to do deals these last few years when we have allowed the Scottish Greens to gain concessions while we got nothing. Hopefully we will be willing to continue to extract concessions from this minority government.