Meeting of the Parliament 27 January 2016
I think that that is exactly what I said in my opening remarks. Scottish National Party ministers never tire of lecturing other parties on the need to offer alternatives and to make it clear how they would pay for their policies, despite the fact that SNP ministers are able to magic up money for projects whenever the mood or the news cycle dictates, and despite the Government running an underspend of hundreds of millions of pounds.
However, the challenge is not an unfair one, so I will respond. Unlike the SNP, the Scottish Liberal Democrats are determined to use to the full the powers of this Parliament in order to make a difference in education. With those powers, we can make a real difference in education. Earlier today, my colleague Willie Rennie set out plans to transform Scottish education in the next five years. By committing to raising income tax by 1p, we would be able to spend £475 million more on education next year alone. That would be the biggest investment in education since devolution. What a difference that could make. It could help to redress some of the damage that has been done to our college sector in recent years by a Government that is hell-bent on slashing budgets, jobs and places. There are 150,000 fewer places, which represents 150,000 lost opportunities for people who are looking for the skills that they need.
The extra resources could help to reverse some of the savage cuts that John Swinney is making to council budgets—cuts, let us face it, that will dig deepest into education and children’s services at local level.