Labour is being dishonest
LABOUR is being dishonest with voters as it refuses to spell out where its spending cuts will fall in order to pay for its election promises (“Labour spending plans will lead to £320m extra for Scottish Government”, heraldscotland, June 13). By sticking to the Tories’ fiscal rules on borrowing, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Institute for Government, the Resolution Foundation and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have all estimated there would be a £18-£20 billion budget shortfall.
Labour claims that there will be economic growth but can’t detail how this will be achieved and continues to ignore the central problem of Brexit which has damaged the UK’S most important trading relationships. The UK is falling behind similar economies in terms of growth and productivity and the US investment bank Goldman Sachs has calculated that the UK economy is five per cent smaller compared to comparable countries than it was prior to Brexit.
As the Scottish Government discovered, putting more money into the NHS doesn’t solve all the problems as there just isn’t enough staff to go round, a position exacerbated by Brexit. In Labour-run Wales the NHS is much worse than in Scotland, but when tackled on this Wes Streeting said all roads lead back to Westminster. Universities in Wales have the same financial pressures as in Scotland, despite Labour proposing to increase student tuition fees to £9,250 after the summer.
Resetting devolution means bypassing the Scottish Parliament as evidenced by proposing to give £150 million to the Scotland Office governor-general to spend, which is peanuts compared to the SNP’S Scottish Child Payment that costs £500m a year.
Finally, there is the Great British Energy con that won’t reduce bills as it is a private investment vehicle that won’t produce any energy, sell any energy or own any energy infrastructure while risking jobs in Scotland’s north-east.
Mary Thomas,
Edinburgh.