Meeting of the Parliament 30 October 2024
I will not give way.
Thanks to the union dividend, this year, Scotland has £2,400 more per head to spend on public services. However, although the SNP still adopts a policy of higher tax on the majority of Scottish workers, our NHS fails to meet waiting time targets; qualified teachers cannot find permanent jobs; school standards have slumped; violent crime is rising; dangerous prisoners are being released early; Police Scotland is on the brink, with the threat of large-scale redundancies; cash-strapped councils are being forced to slash services; and our roads and infrastructure are crumbling. At the same time, the SNP is cutting investment in housing and employability, but the benefits bill is still soaring.
The SNP is not just on the wrong page—it is on a different planet. It gave free mobile phones to prisoners but slashed funding to get people back into work. It is sending millions of pounds to educate children in Africa—noble as that is—but funding for teachers in Scotland is not being delivered.
However, Labour is no better. In fact, today, we found out that it might be worse. Make no mistake whatsoever—Labour’s budget is bad for Scotland, despite the additional Barnett consequentials that will come forward. It is bad for workers, bad for growth and bad for the economy. Labour promised change, but the country did not expect that it would be change for the worse through higher borrowing, which will put mortgages at risk—