Assemble 10:30am: Johnson Terrace, EH1 2PW March off: 11am
Rally at the Scottish Parliament 11.30 – 1pm
The Cost-of-Living Crisis is hitting people across the country. Public service workers in particular are facing a fresh set of real terms pay cuts on top of years of stagnating wages.
The STUC and our affiliated unions are campaigning for a range of urgent actions to stem this crisis, including action to reduce energy bills, support for those of all ages on benefits, rent caps and action to reduce transport costs.
The ultimate responsibility for the Cost-of-Living Crisis sits with the Tories at Westminster. However, this does not mean that the Scottish Government is powerless. It needs to start by funding inflation level pay rises for Scottish public service workers.
Join us, as we demand better for the public service workers of Scotland.
Tortoise Media is seeking judicial review of the Conservative Party’s refusal to provide information about the running of the election to decide Boris Johnson’s successor as Party leader and Prime Minister.
The Tortoise newsroom asked for information about the demographics of the membership voting to elect the next leader and Prime Minister; they asked for the numbers of members and how they have grown over time; asked what the Party does to ensure members are who they say they are; and asked what the Party does to deal with attempts at infiltration and interference.
The Conservative Party refused to answer any of these questions. Darren Mott, CEO of the Conservatives, said the election was a “private matter” and that the choice of PM is not ultimately made by the members, but the Queen.
Tortoise believe that this is unlawful. On the advice of lawyers, they have written to the Conservative Party to inform them that they are seeking judicial review because they believe that the Party’s refusal to disclose information is in breach of common law and human rights law – i.e. the Conservative Party is in breach of the laws safeguarding open government and guaranteeing our right to know information regarding the operation of our government and democracy.
– undemocratic because the process by which Conservative Party chooses the next PM is unrepresentative (the membership accounts for little over 0.2 per cent of the population and includes non-UK citizens and under-age voters) and because it’s unsafe (the Party has provided no assurance to us as to how or if it checks voters are who they say they are).
– unlawful because we asked the Conservative Party to provide information about the demographics of the electorate, the efforts taken to validate party members and the process of securing the election from interference. They refused. In doing so, we believe they’ve breached the common law principle of open government and human rights enshrined in law guaranteeing information is made available to the public about the operation of our democracy.
– we know more about the membership of the Chinese Communist Party – age, gender, geography, job – than we do about the Conservative Party members choosing our prime minister
– Party insiders estimate the membership has grown by 50-70,000 people in the last three years, but no one can say who they are; no one, in fact, can say how many of the members are on the electoral register
– if Liz Truss moves into No. 10 next week, she’ll have the weakest mandate of any modern prime minister, not being the choice of the majority of Conservative MPs but carried into office by 80,000 or so people who pay £25 a year to be Conservative Party members.
– when we asked a Party official who oversees the Party’s compliance processes to ensure voters are who they say they are, we were told: “Nobody”. The former head of one of the UK’s national security agencies said the Conservative Party is not resourced to run an election of this importance.
James Harding, Editor of Tortoise, said: “After we registered Archie, our pet tortoise, a couple of foreign nationals and the late Lady Thatcher as members of the Conservative Party – and the Party had taken the money, issued them all with new membership numbers and invited them to the leader hustings – we were concerned about how the Conservative Party was running this election.
“We wrote to the Conservative Party to ask who the voters are and what they do to ensure they are who they say they are. They have refused to answer.
“This is no way to choose the person who, from next week, will be Prime Minister of a nuclear-armed G7 nation with a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
“This election is obviously undemocratic. The Party’s insistence on secrecy is also unlawful. We are a newsroom; our job is to inform; if the Conservative Party refuses to disclose information in the public interest, we can’t just shrug, we need to take it to court.
“The public surely has the right to know who gets to choose who runs the country and what is done to ensure the election is clean and safe. ”
COSLA last night expressed its disappointment with the Local Government Trade Unions reaction to ‘one of the best pay deals for their workforce in decades’.
The offer, negotiated on behalf of Scotland’s 32 councils, is an overall package worth half a billion pounds, giving 5% to all staff plus an additional cost of living payment to our lowest paid employees. Based on a 37-hour week no member of staff will get less than an additional £1925 and for those earning under £20,500 at least a £2,000 pay increase – for this year and also next year.
This has been designed to address the concerns and firm view of Trade Unions that the lowest paid must be protected during this crisis and demonstrates Local Government’s commitment to not leave anyone behind.
Councils continue to strive to lead the way in pushing up minimum rates of pay and as well as this are including an extra days annual leave this year.
Councillor Katie Hagmann COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson said: “Council Leaders have said consistently throughout these negotiations that we absolutely value and are grateful to all of our local government workforce.
“It is perhaps only when waste starts piling up and there is the prospect of further disruption to life with school closures that others see the hidden value local government services deliver each and every day of the year in our towns, villages and cities.
“It is for this reason that we as employers have done everything possible to put the best offer we can to our workforce. But we are now at the absolute extremes of affordability and this is already an offer which is stretching our already stretched finances like never before.
“This year’s offer is significantly better and different to previous offers and would have helped to support our Council workforces across the country at this difficult time.
“That support is crucial at any time but particularly now, during the cost of living crisis the country is facing. This is why we are so disappointed with the response to it from our Trade Union colleagues.
“Given our commitment as Employers to get to this point, we are disappointed that Trade Unions will not suspend planned strike action whilst they put this offer to members to allow workers to get back to doing what they do best, delivering high quality, essential services right across Scotland.
“My final point to the Trade Union colleagues is that we have done everything we possibly can to get to this stage and that this offer – which is still on the table – is as good as it gets.”
UNISON responded: ‘Strikes to continue – We will recommend UNISON council members vote to reject the latest LG pay offer in a digital consultative ballot in the coming days.’
GMB Scotland and Unite, the two other unions locked in the local government dispute, also rejected the latest pay offer. GMB says the council pay offer feathers nests of service directors over frontline staff.
GMB Scotland Senior Organiser for Public Services Keir Greenaway said: “A flat rate award is a key demand from unions to ensure more consolidated money goes into the pockets of frontline workers and not the highest paid in our councils. COSLA knew this but instead tabled this offer as an across-the-board percentage rise that only feathers the nests of service directors.
“This was unacceptable to our local government committee members. It’s not credible that in the grip of the biggest cost-of-living crisis in forty years, and with inflation and energy bills soaring, a head of service gets four times the consolidated increase than a bin collector, cleaner or carer.
“That’s why we have written to COSLA again this evening urging them to return to talks as soon as possible and to negotiate a new offer based on a flat rate increase. If they don’t do this, then when our committee reconvenes tomorrow, we will outline our plans to fully consult GMB members.”
The big clean up begins in Edinburgh this morning – but unless a pay deal can be thrashed out we could be facing another round of industrial action in Auld Reekie as earky as next week.
UNITE members rallied outside the City Chambers yesterday to mark the end of the first wave of strikes – but made clear this dispute is far from over.
A Unite spokesperson said: “Unless they get an offer Local Authority workers deserve, Edinburgh will be joined by 19 other Councils to take further action from September 6th.”
Shadow Scottish Secretary: At some point, something will break, and Scottish voters will say: ‘We can’t go on like this’.
LABOUR’S Ian Murray has blasted Nicola Sturgeon for using the Scottish Parliament to “manage decline” and push for independence.
In an exclusive interview with GB News, Mr Murray, who is Labour’s only MP in Scotland, ripped into Ms Sturgeon and said although he doesn’t think Scottish Independence will happen anytime soon opponents would have to fight “very, very hard” to prevent it in any new vote.
Speaking to Gloria De Piero, the Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland also opened up about losing his father when he was aged just nine.
He also recalled the bizarre moment he almost blew his chance of a Shadow Cabinet job – by mistakenly putting the phone down on then Labour-leader Harriet Harman when she’d called to offer him the post.
Asked by Ms Piero about the chances of Scotland ever securing independence during his lifetime he said: “I absolutely don’t think I will live to see it, because it just doesn’t work. They just cannot find a viable way of promoting a proposition that works.
“And that’s not to say they might not win it eventually. Nicola Sturgeon has said that if they lose a second one, they’ll have a third. And all this stuff about mandates, about Brexit, about the Tories. All of the excuses that they give for another referendum are all the excuses that were given the day after the last one.
“So, we’re just finding an excuse and a trigger to have one. And as all that’s happening, and I see it in my own constituency day in, day out is the NHS is getting worse, educational attainment gap’s widening, transport is dreadful, the economy is slipping behind the rest of the UK, the number of higher rate taxpayers is diminishing, the demographics are much older and therefore all the problems that comes with that.
“And none of that’s being dealt with. It’s just all Westminster’s fault: ‘so vote for independence’. And I just think at some point, something will break, and Scottish voters will go, ‘We can’t go on like this’. And maybe that’ll take another referendum, you know, I don’t want one, we shouldn’t have one, if we end up having one, we’ll fight very, very hard to stay in the United Kingdom.
“But something’s going to have to break to get out of this. Otherwise, we’re going to stay on this constitutional merry go round and things are just going to get worse. This Scottish Government essentially uses the Scottish Parliament to manage decline.”
Mr Murray, who represents Edinburgh South, also opened up to Ms Piero about losing his dad, Jim, when he was just nine years old.
Recalling the night he died, Mr Murray said: “We were playing snooker at home, mum was out at the bingo, and he was in his pyjamas. His bottoms fell down and I was only nine so I started laughing, my brother was a little bit embarrassed and a bit concerned. But, you know, he also just thought it was him messing around. Then he never missed a ball for about 10 minutes, he just potted everything and we were going: ‘This is a bit strange’.
“Then 10 minutes later, he was on the floor. He had a cerebral haemorrhage. Mum was called and rushed home. Eventually the ambulance came. Then at four o’clock in the morning mum returned and said, ‘Dad’s not coming home’. The following morning, I woke up, went into the lounge, and the whole family were sitting there, and that’s when it really sunk in.
“The lesson from it was that he had been ill for some time and didn’t tell anyone and he should have really got some advice. Whether or not, in the mid-80s, he would have been able to get the medical attention required to sort something like that, I don’t know, because obviously it’s moved on quite a bit.
“But, you know, he was having blackouts at work and wasn’t telling anyone, he was feeling a bit depressed, which is all the great symptoms of having something wrong with your brain. My dad was 39 when he died. I’m six years older than that now, so I reflect on it a lot. And being a father now as well, I reflect on it a lot. But yeah, I mean it was utterly traumatic, and my poor mum had to deal with the consequences of it. She went into 6th gear and brought up two boys on her own.”
Mr Murray said he has hardly any memories of his dad and that his mother, Lena, never talks about her husband’s death.
“She’s never, ever spoken about it,” he continued. “Apart from her regret that she didn’t let us boys go to the funeral, which was a choice she made at the time, and I think she regrets that.”
Mr Murray was the only Scottish Labour MP to keep his seat in 2015, meaning even though he’d been tipped by many to one day become Shadow Scottish Secretary he suddenly became the automatic choice.
However, as he told GB News, things didn’t run smoothly.
He explained: “Because I’d been the only person to win, my phone for 24 hours was just completely red hot. And there was this woman called Harriet from the BBC Scotland who was phoning me up constantly to say, ‘Could you do drive time? Could you do the morning show? Could you do Good Morning Scotland?’ and ‘What about Sunday Shows?’.
“Obviously because the election was on the Thursday, elected overnight on the Thursday night into Friday. And I just said, ‘Look. It’s been a really tough election. I’ve done all the media I really want to do. I have nothing else to say and until things settle down, I’m not quite sure I want to do anymore’, and she kept ringing and ringing.
“And then my phone rang again, and I just picked it up, I was in my flat at home, the flat I still live in, and I just said, ‘Ian Murray speaking’. And I just heard this, ‘It’s Harriet here’, and I didn’t hear anything else, the voice on the other side of the phone said, ‘I’d like you to join the Shadow cabinet’, and I thought I heard, ‘Are you joining the Shadow Cabinet?’.
“I went, ‘Look Harriet, will you stop bothering me? It’s been a long week. You know, I am the only one that’s left. We’re all in a bit of shock here, and I’m sick of journalists phoning me and asking me if I’m joining the Shadow Cabinet. So, the answer is no comment’, and I put the phone down. And actually, the phone rang again, and it was Harriet Harman as the acting leader of the Labour Party offering me a place in the Shadow Cabinet.”
Laughing, he added: “So, I apologised profusely, and she promised never to mention it. Oh, and I also promised I would never tell the story….”
Dogs Trust staff welcomed Sue Webber MSP to West Calder Rehoming Centre last week where she met handsome hounds patiently awaiting new homes.
As well as a tour of the West Lothian centre, the MSP for Lothian Region met with a number of the charity’s foster carers who were attending a ‘Thank Dog Its Fostering Friday’ event. Sue heard more about what fostering entails from couple Roy and Laura who have fostered for six years, in which time they have cared for over 135 dogs.
Speaking about the visit, Ms Webber said: “As a dog owner myself I know how much a part of the family they are, so it was lovely to meet some of the fantastic dogs currently in Dogs Trust care especially new resident Phoebe.
“It was also great to hear more about the charity’s fostering scheme and to meet foster carers Roy and Laura. It was incredibly inspiring to listen to them talk so passionately about the rescue dogs they have cared for and how rewarding an experience it is for them. I would encourage anyone interested in fostering to contact the charity and find out more.”
West Calder Rehoming Centre Manager Susan Tonner said: “We were delighted to welcome Ms Webber and give her a tour of the centre.
“As we also had an event on that day for our wonderful fosterer carers, it was ideal that she was able to spend time with them and hear more about the benefits for our dogs of living in a home environment.
“She was very supportive of our Home from Home fostering scheme and its continued growth within Scotland, and we are grateful for that support.”
Dogs Trust is currently looking for Home from Home fosterers in Lothian and Borders. Anyone interested can call the centre on 01506 873459.
Anyone interested in rehoming three-year-old lurcher Phoebe, or any of the other four-legged friends in the charities care, click here:
New funding has been announced to cut carbon emissions in homes and commercial properties, as the Scottish Government continues to focus on delivering its net zero targets and support families with the cost of living.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Zero Carbon Buildings Minister Patrick Harvie announced £16.2 million funding for five zero emission heat networks during a visit to ng Homes in Glasgow.
The announcement coincides with the first anniversary of the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party Parliamentary Group signing the Bute House Agreement, a plan to work together to build a green economic recovery from COVID, respond to the climate emergency and create a fairer country.
In its first year the agreement has delivered a range of benefits for households, communities and businesses and seen work begin on a number of longer-term reforms.
Particular progress has been made across a range of areas including:
Doubling the Scottish Child Payment to £20 per week per eligible child from April 2022, with plans to extend eligibility to under 16s and further increasing the payment to £25 per week by the end of 2022.
Bringing ScotRail into public ownership.
Introducing free bus travel for under 22s to cut the cost of living for young people, encourage sustainable travel behaviours early in their lives and improve access to education, leisure, and work.
Investing a record £150 million in active travel in 2022-23, including more than doubling the funding for the National Cycle Network, a new walking fund, and supporting pilots for free bikes for school age children who cannot afford them.
Publishing Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation setting out how Scotland will transition to a wellbeing economy.
The Agreement set out a strategy for over a million homes to be using zero carbon heating systems by the end of the decade and allocating funds from a total planned investment of £1.8 billion to cut energy bills, improved building energy efficiency and reduce climate emissions.
Scotland’s Heat Network Fund offers long term funding support to deliver more climate-friendly ways of heating Scotland’s homes and buildings. It has enabled the rollout of new zero emission heat networks and communal heating systems, as well as the expansion and decarbonisation of existing heat networks across Scotland.
Moving forward, the Scottish Government is primarily focused on four key tasks: reducing child poverty; addressing the climate crisis; the recovery from COVID of Scotland’s public services including the delivery of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation; and the development of the prospectus for an independent Scotland and an independence referendum in October 2023.
The First Minister said: “The world has changed substantially since the Agreement was reached 12 months ago. The conflict in Ukraine and the rising cost of living crisis have profoundly impacted everyone’s lives.
“However, the stable and collaborative government provided by the Agreement, has helped to deliver immediate action in the face of these challenges, including supporting those displaced from Ukraine and using the powers that Ministers have to address the cost of living crisis.
“Action is needed now to support communities to respond to the cost of living and climate crises, and Scotland’s Heat Network Fund is just one of the many initiatives that the Scottish Government has already undertaken.
“The projects that receive support from the Fund will fully align with the Scottish Government’s aim to eradicate fuel poverty by supplying heat at affordable prices to consumers, which is especially important now when we are seeing record rises in the cost of heating.
“The Bute House Agreement was reached to equip us best to deal with the challenges we face, because we believe that new ideas and ways of working are required to deal with new problems. An unstable world needs more co-operation and more constructive working towards building a consensus, if governments are to be equal to what the people need of them.”
Mr Harvie said: “One year on from the Scottish Greens entering government as part of the Bute House Agreement, I am proud of what this Government is doing to build a fairer, greener Scotland.
“From free bus transport for young people to doubling the Scottish Child Payment, we are committed to accelerating action to tackle the climate and cost of living crises.
“The energy crisis households across Scotland now face is being driven by rocketing prices for gas, which we depend on for heat. We are clear that we need to redouble our efforts to improve the efficiency of our homes, making them more comfortable and cheaper to run, and end our reliance on gas for heat. That’s why we are investing £1.8 billion in our green homes and buildings programme.
“Delivering a just transition to net-zero and seizing the opportunities this presents is a major focus of the Scottish Government, and rapidly increasing Scotland’s renewable energy generating capacity and securing accompanying jobs and investment will be central to our work over the rest of the parliament.
“During the first year of the Agreement firm foundations have been built, demonstrating delivery and progress on shared policy priorities and adopting an approach that is both challenging and constructive.”
The Prime Minister, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng met industry leaders from the electricity sector yesterday to discuss what more they can do to help people struggling with rising energy prices– but the meeting did nothing to resolve the impending crisis.
The Prime Minister, Chancellor, Business and Energy Secretary stressed the need to act in the interest of the country in the face of rising energy prices caused by Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and how vital it was that the Western world continued to stand by the Ukrainian people during their battle for survival.
The Chancellor and energy firms agreed to work closely over the coming weeks to ensure that the public, including vulnerable customers, are supported as unprecedented global events drive higher energy costs.
Government support worth £37 billion is being provided this year to help people with the rising cost of living, including £1,200 for the most vulnerable households over the course of the year and £400 discounted off everyone’s energy bills from October.
It was noted that the market is not always functioning for consumers, and extraordinarily high bills will ultimately damage energy companies.
As set out in the Energy Security Strategy, the Government has launched a consultation to drive forward market reforms and ensure the market works better for consumers. Discussion focussed on how Government and industry can collectively drive forward reforms to ensure the market delivers lower prices.
The Prime Minister, Chancellor and Business and Energy Secretary emphasised the importance of investing in North Sea oil and gas, renewables, biomass and nuclear to strengthen our domestic energy security.
The Chancellor added the Government continues to evaluate the extraordinary profits seen in certain parts of the electricity generation sector and the appropriate and proportionate steps to take.
The Prime Minister set out that it will be for the next Prime Minister to make significant fiscal decisions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Countries around the world are feeling the impact of Putin’s damaging war in Ukraine. We know that this will be a difficult winter for people across the UK, which is why we are doing everything we can to support them and must continue to do so.
“Following our meeting today, we will keep urging the electricity sector to continue working on ways we can ease the cost of living pressures and to invest further and faster in British energy security.
“We are continuing to roll out government support over the coming months, including the second £324 instalment of the cost of living payment for vulnerable households, extra help for pensioners and those with disabilities, and the £400 energy bills discount for all households.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nadhim Zahawi, said: “This morning I hosted industry leaders from the electricity sector to discuss what more they can do to work with Government and act in the interest of the country in the face of rising prices caused by Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
“We have already acted to protect households with £400 off energy bills and direct payments of £1,200 for 8 million of the most vulnerable British families. In the spirit of national unity, they agreed to work with us to do more to help the people who most need it.”
The meeting was attended by representatives from:
EDF
RWE
E.ON
Drax
Orsted
Uniper
National Grid
SSE
ScottishPower
Centrica
Octopus Energy
Vitol
Intergen
Greencoat Capital
Energy UK
Scottish Government Resilience Room convened to discuss ‘cost emergency’
The First Minister chaired the Scottish Government Resilience Committee yesterday (August 11) to discuss urgent steps to mitigate the growing cost emergency which is affecting people and businesses.
Ministers assessed the current situation and likely scenarios in the months ahead and agreed a number of immediate actions. The Scottish Government will:
Continue to maximise the direct financial assistance available to those most in need, principally through ongoing work to extend eligibility for and increase the value of the Scottish Child Payment
Undertake an emergency budget review to assess any and all opportunities to redirect additional resources to those most in need, reduce the burdens on business and stimulate the Scottish economy
Consider urgently all options within devolved powers for regulatory action to limit increases in costs for people, businesses and other organisations
Bring together energy companies, banks and food retailers to examine what further help can be provided by these businesses to limit cost increases and protect those most vulnerable
Work with partners to strengthen the safety net of emergency food/fuel provision, prioritising a ‘cash first’ approach
Provide further advice to households on using energy more efficiently and reducing consumption
The Resilience Committee will meet on a weekly basis for the foreseeable future to oversee and direct progress on these immediate actions and keep under ongoing review any further steps that the Scottish Government can take.
In addition to doing everything possible within its powers, the Scottish Government is renewing its call for urgent and substantial action from the UK Government including:
An immediate doubling of the direct financial support already provided, with payments made by October. It is estimated that for an out-of-work couple with two children, the payments already announced by the UK Government fall around £1,600 short of meeting the recent changes to benefits and living costs – a gap that must be filled
Cancellation of the forthcoming increase in the energy price cap, followed by urgent work between the government and energy companies on energy market reforms and associated financing options to ensure sustainable costs for consumers in the long term
The urgent introduction of an energy price cap for Small and Medium Enterprises
Support for business to prevent closures due to energy price rises and investment in economic stimulus to minimise the scale of the projected recession
A further windfall tax to ensure nationalisation of the profits being made out of the current pressures
Additional funding to support public sector pay increases and protect the recovery of public services from the pandemic
The First Minister said: “It is clear that the UK currently faces a rapidly escalating emergency that goes beyond simply the cost of living and is now a more general cost of everything crisis. This emergency may be of a different nature to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is on a similar scale.
“In the absence of substantial and urgent action, this emergency will cause acute deprivation and suffering. It will affect access to practical necessities for millions of people across the UK. Bluntly, it will cost lives.
“To illustrate the severity of the situation, the Scottish Government estimates that, even with current UK Government mitigations, at least 700,000 households in Scotland – 30% of all households – will be living in extreme fuel poverty by October. That number could be even higher, if the Ofgem price cap for October 2022 is above £2,800.
“It is essential, therefore, that the response from government at every level is commensurate, in scale and speed, to the nature and magnitude of the emergency.
“In developing a response, governments must first and foremost address immediate need. We must all focus on supporting individuals, businesses and jobs by addressing the principal root causes of the problem.
“Scottish Ministers are clear that the powers and resources needed to tackle this emergency on the scale required – access to borrowing, welfare, VAT on fuel, taxation of windfall profits, regulation of the energy market – lie with the UK Government. This is reflected in the actions we have proposed and set out today.
“At the same time, the Scottish Government will continue to do everything within our resources and powers to help those most affected.”
The First Minister has sought an emergency meeting of the Prime Minister and Heads of devolved Government Council to agree steps to help people in need as a result of the cost of living crisis.
In a letter to the Prime Minister urging the suggested September meeting be brought forward due to a “fast deteriorating” situation the First Minister made her view clear that “many people across the UK simply cannot afford to wait until September for further action to be taken”.
The meeting between leaders of the devolved governments and the UK Government would provide an opportunity to agree actions that can be taken now and formulate a plan of action for the long term.
The Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGoRR) will convene this week to discuss what steps can be taken to urgently ease the burden on households across Scotland, both now and in the future.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “While we will continue to take all actions available to us within devolved responsibilities and budgets – the Scottish Government is investing almost £3 billion this year in a range of measures which will help address the cost of living pressures – it is a statement of fact that many of the levers which would make the biggest difference lie with the UK Government.
“It is also the case that only the UK Government can access and make available resources on the scale required. Therefore, actions by devolved governments alone – though important – will not be enough to meet the unprecedented challenges we face.
“Action is needed now to address significant gaps in help for households, in particular those on low incomes, who are increasingly vulnerable to the impact of rising household costs.
“However, it is also vital, given further increases to energy bills due to be announced later this month, that a substantial plan be developed now to avert and mitigate what will otherwise be a crisis of unprecedented proportions – a crisis in which many people will be unable to feed themselves and their families or heat their homes.
“While few will escape some impact of the cost of living crisis, these impacts are not being experienced evenly. That is why the focus must be on providing targeted support to those most adversely impacted, rather than an irresponsible reduction in broad-based taxes which will benefit the relatively better off over those most in need.
“The current crisis requires clear, focused and determined leadership and co-operation to develop and deliver – at pace – a package of interventions to protect those most impacted.”
UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart has visited the Hebrides to meet community groups, businesses and council representatives.
Levelling up was top of the agenda as UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart visited innovative island businesses and community projects on a five-day visit to Skye, Lewis and Harris, ahead of the inaugural Islands Forum later this year.
Starting his visit in Skye, Minister Stewart met with the Staffin Community Trust and local fishermen to discuss plans to redevelop Staffin Harbour and consider ways the UK Government could support the project. He then headed to Skye’s largest town, Portree, to host a roundtable discussion with representatives from local community groups, where he invited views on how levelling up could enhance the area.
The Minister then made his way to Harris where he paid a visit to the Harris Distillery. He enjoyed hearing about how the island-based enterprise has grown through training and employing young people from the local area, meaning they don’t have to leave the island for work.
In Lewis, Minister Stewart’s busy itinerary included meeting Comhairle nan Eilean Siar – Western Isles Council – to talk about how levelling up could benefit the local community.
He visited the headquarters of Gaelic Media Service MG Alba to learn about how they are creating premium Gaelic language content, and also paid a visit to Charles Macleod butchers, makers of the world-renowned Stornoway Black Pudding, to discuss their success in exporting from the island.
He also met with Lewis-based Horshader Community Trust, a charity taking forward green initiatives including decarbonising transport and nurturing trees to create woodland. The trust has received more than £70,000 from the Community Renewal Fund to help local residents gain new skills, support the development of two green projects, and work with business partners to strengthen the island’s renewable energy sector.
Minister Iain Stewart said: “It was a pleasure to visit Skye, Lewis and Harris. From discussing plans to regenerate Staffin Harbour, to seeing how the Horshader Community Trust is making Lewis more sustainable, to hearing how the Harris Distillery is supporting jobs for young people, it’s clear these islands have talent, innovation and resourcefulness in droves.
“It’s also clear that the Islands Growth Deal and investment through the UK Government’s Levelling Up Funds are making a real difference in these places, for the benefit of people who live here.
“However, while our island communities have unique strengths, they also face unique challenges. Infrastructure, transport and depopulation are issues that islands often have to contend with, and must be addressed for our rural areas to truly thrive.
“The Islands Forum was set up to discuss these problems. It will give a platform for those who understand remote communities and their needs best, putting islands at the heart of our Levelling Up agenda which has so far resulted in more than £2 billion being invested directly in Scottish projects.”
The UK Government’s first Islands Forum will take place in Orkney later this year. The forum will put islands at the heart of the Levelling Up agenda, with island communities across the UK invited to discuss common challenges including connectivity, infrastructure and demographic trends.
