For immediate use: Monday 27th September 2010
Attn: NEWSDESKS
POLITICAL CORRESPONDENTS
REHASHED ANNOUNCEMENTS, ARROGANT ASSUMPTIONS & CUTS CONFUSION
Commenting on Iain Gray’s very short speech to the UK Labour party conference which announced no new policies for Labour the SNP Minister Alex Neil MSP said it failed to offer any new policies whilst rehashing old ones, displayed a return to the arrogant assumption that Labour controlled Scotland, and it’s length only showed how the UK Labour party takes Scotland for granted.
Commenting Mr Neil said:
“This speech was so short you could be forgiven for missing the soundbites. Did he have to ditch large chunks because he assumed David Miliband would be leader?
“The time given over to this speech only shows how little the UK Labour party really care about Scotland. Ian Gray’s call for a ‘Labour Scotland’ only reveals how the party wants to control and own Scotland.
"As for his policy announcement this was the same policy Labour announced last year and one which the SNP in Government is already putting into practice. The SNP has led the way by freezing ministerial pay for two years and restraining pay at the top of the public sector.
"The SNP agreed in 2008 that all Scottish Government employees would earn a living wage of over £7 from August this year and we have seen low pay improve across the public sector with Agenda for Change improving pay rates in the NHS.
“It was also ironic that he was sandwiched in between Jim Murphy warning that UK government cuts would where “even Thatcher feared to tread”, only to be followed by Alistair Darling who established that Labour would cut “deeper and tougher” than Thatcher. It exemplifies why no one can trust a word labour says on cuts.
"At the next election voters will face a clear choice between an experienced SNP Government, working with those across the public sector to deliver our commitments to help the low paid at a time when Labour's cuts begin to bite and a Labour party that is stuck rehashing old announcements and making empty promises."
ENDS
1. A link showing that Scottish Government employees earn at least £7 per hour as of August 2010 is here:
2. Alistair Darling sets out Labour’s approach to cuts:
BBC News, Thursday, 25th March 2010
Asked by the BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson to accept the Treasury's own figures suggest deeper, tougher cuts than those implemented by the Thatcher government in the 1980s, Mr Darling replied:
"They will be deeper and tougher - where we make the precise comparison I think is secondary to fact is an acknowledgement that these reductions will be tough".
No comments:
Post a Comment