Judith Fisher Articles

Last week the SNP government published their budget plans for the next four years. John Swinney, the finance secretary, agreed to publish extended spending forecasts after being challenged by Labour and the other opposition parties immediately after announcing a draft budget in November when he limited his plans to the current financial year.

So we had some snow, then some more, and now we’re getting just a bit more. The hapless SNP are in charge, so everything naturally ground to a halt. With the resignation of transport minister, Stewart Stevenson, it’s time to refocus on this month’s best example of the SNP’s failure to govern.

With the approach of the Scottish draft budget announcement on the 18 November, following George Osborne’s confirmation in the comprehensive spending review that Scotland will face a real terms reduction in budget of 11 per cent through to 2015, public sector organisations are bracing themselves to see where the largest cuts will fall.

Education is always an issue during any election campaign. Given education’s importance to the voters and for the future of our country, it would be expected that any government would make delivering on education a key focus. Not so the SNP…