Last year was an eventful one in Scottish politics, with the Scottish National Party forming a minority government, and Scottish Labour electing a new leader, Wendy Alexander. It is now becoming clear what living under an SNP government will mean for the Scottish people. Broken promises, financial mismanagement and a prioritisation of the whims of the wealthy over the needs of the vulnerable, all look set to characterise their style of governance.
The SNP have produced a draft budget, which, with the support of the Tories, has now passed its first stage in parliament. The big achievement, supposedly, in this budget, is the agreement of local authorities to freeze council tax, a move which benefits high earners, but with no financial benefit whatsoever for those on the lowest incomes. What will impact on low earners will be the subsequent cut in services and the removal of ring-fencing agreed by the SNP in order to broker the deal with local authorities.
In politics, there are areas of policy that will never be sexy, never be vote winners, but affect some of the most vulnerable in our society. An example is the removal of ring-fencing on Women’s Aid services. No-one wants to talk about battered women, which is precisely why central government needs to ensure funds are allocated and that a parity of provision exists across the country.
Housing was another big loser in the SNP budget. Even the most ardent of patriots would admit that Scotland is cold, wet and often miserable, which is why the scheme to install free central heating and insulation for Scotland’s pensioners was so important and was one of the flagship policies of the first Labour-led administration. Now though, many Scots pensioners this winter face being left in the cold as waiting lists for free central heating get longer, with some facing a wait of upwards of a year.
The SNP budget has no contingency fund, no money set aside for flood, famine or a sudden wave of pestilence, so if Orkney starts to sink, they’re on their own.
Government is about responsibility, but for the SNP it’s all about using the trappings of power and taxpayers money to bolster their case for separation, with the most vulnerable the victims of the SNP’s pursuit of the narrowest of agendas. This isn’t Government, this is a hostage situation.
It was all so different in the run up to May’s elections. The SNP promised 1000 new police officers, a £2,000 grant for first-time homebuyers, to write off student debt. All these pledges, on which they were elected, have been broken. But make no mistake, the SNP are not sorry to have broken their promises, to have systematically lied to the Scottish people and now to be caught out. They are delighted. This is because, and this may not surprise you, it’s all Westminster’s fault for allocating Scotland ‘the tightest budget settlement since devolution’, this despite the fact that in reality, our financial settlement will continue to rise above the rate of inflation over the next three years.
The truth is beginning to dawn on the Scottish electorate. The SNP’s idea of ‘standing up for Scotland’ is to mock the needs and aspirations of the Scottish people through promising panaceas they have no intention, or desire, to deliver, and to sacrifice the pressing concerns of our most vulnerable on the altar of their constitutional obsession.
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour renews, and we wait.