Hansard

I am tempted to begin by listing a number of individual backers of the Labour Party and wondering what their position might be on the there is a better way campaign. However, that would not be a particularly useful beginning, so instead I will congratulate Elaine Smith on securing a valuable debate. It was delayed, but I am glad that it has come back. I am pleased to support the STUC’s campaign. STUC representatives gave a useful presentation to the SNP group at the Scottish Parliament. I am supportive of the general thrust of the campaign. On a related matter, Elaine Smith knows about my support for the people’s charter, because I have shared a platform with her in support of it, but I will not be in committee room 4 tonight. However, I have signed up in support of that charter.

A useful starting point is to assess whether the UK Government’s cuts agenda is necessary. The Government talks about there being no other alternative, but we should consider whether that is true. It is a matter of regret that no Tory or Liberal member is here or is brave enough to stay to make their Government’s case. In the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s budget statement to Parliament last year, he described the budget using terms such as “unavoidable”, “fair” and “progressive”. He said that, although the budget was tough, it would be implemented in a progressive and measured fashion.

Let us examine those assumptions. First, is the budget unavoidable? Elaine Smith usefully remarked that the significance of the deficit now is proportionately nowhere close to that of the deficit that we had in 1945. Further, the projected size of the 2010 deficit was £178 billion, but the actual figure was £156.1 billion, which was still a significant figure but not as big as had been imagined. That is instructive in considering whether the budget is unavoidable.

Is the agenda fair or progressive? The STUC has useful information on that. It states:

“Low-income households of working age lose the most from the ... Budget reforms because of the cuts to welfare spending.”

The Scottish Government’s assessment has indicated cause for concern. For example, it estimates that the freeze in child benefit for three years will reduce the income of around 621,000 families in Scotland, with the greatest proportionate impact on low-income families. There are also concerns about changes to disability living allowance, with an estimate that 10,700 people in Scotland will lose their entitlement to DLA in 2013-14, rising to 31,700 in 2014-15 as a result of changes in the assessment criteria. That does not show the budget to be particularly fair or progressive.

Will the path that has been chosen work? The comments of Paul Krugman in that regard are instructive. He has said:

“Why the wrong turn in policy? The hard-liners often invoke the troubles facing Greece and other nations around the edges of Europe to justify their actions. And it’s true that bond investors have turned on governments with intractable deficits. But there is no evidence that short-run fiscal austerity in the face of a depressed economy reassures investors. On the contrary: Greece has agreed to harsh austerity, only to find its risk spreads growing ever wider”.

Therefore, it might not even work in the long run.

I am very supportive of the STUC’s there is a better way campaign. I have been working locally with the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth campaign to protect jobs in public services, and I will keep doing so.

I congratulate Elaine Smith on securing the debate. This is probably an area where we will not all agree. No one can deny that there is a huge challenge as far as the Scottish Government’s approach is concerned, with a £1.3 billion withdrawal from the Scottish budget as a consequence of the decisions of the UK Government. Despite those challenges, which I accept exist, the Scottish Government has delivered a fairer, more progressive budget than could ever be imagined under the UK Tory-Liberal Government.

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