Tag: SNP

Boris Johnson: Getting On With the Job or More Bluff and Bluster?

BUILDING BACK BETTER: Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester yesterday. This is what he told the party faithful:

Isn’t it amazing to be here in person

the first time we have met since you defied the sceptics by winning councils and communities that Conservatives have never won in before – such as Hartlepool

in fact it’s the first time since the general election of 2019 when we finally sent the corduroyed communist cosmonaut into orbit where he belongs

and why are we back today

for a traditional Tory cheek by jowler?

It is because for months we have had one of the most open economies and societies

and on July 19 we decided to open every single

theatre and every concert hall and night club in England

and

we knew that some people would still be anxious

so we sent top government representatives to our sweatiest boites de nuit to show that anyone could dance

perfectly safely

and wasn’t he brilliant my friends?

let’s hear it for Jon Bon Govi

living proof that we, you all

represent the most jiving hip happening and generally funkapolitan party in the world

and how have we managed to open up

ahead of so many of our friends?

You know the answer, its

because of the roll-out of that

vaccine

a UK phenomenon

the magic potion invented in oxford university

and bottled in wales

distributed at incredible speed to vaccination centres everywhere

I saw the army in action in Glasgow

firing staple guns like carbines as they set up a huge vaccination centre

and in Fermanagh I saw the needles go in like a collective sewing machine

and they vaccinated so rapidly that we were able to

do those crucial groups one to four

the oldest and most vulnerable faster than any other major economy in the world

and though the disease has sadly not gone away the impact on death rates has been astonishing

and I urge you all to get your jabs because every day our vaccine defences are getting stronger and stronger

and you, all of you, and everybody watching made this roll-out possible

you each made each other safe

so perhaps we should all thank each other

go on – try a cautious fist bump

because it’s ok now

and we in turn thank the

volunteers, the public health workers, the council workers

the pharmacists

but above all our untiring unbeatable unbelievable NHS

and as a responsible conservative government we must recognise the sheer scale of their achievement

but recognise also the scale of the challenge ahead


‍The NHS

When I was lying in St Thomas’s hospital last year l looked blearily out of my window at a hole in the ground between my ICU and another much older Victorian section and amid the rubble of brick they seemed to be digging a hole for something or indeed someone – possibly me

but the NHS saved me

and our wonderful nurses pulled my chestnuts out of Tartarean pit

and the other day I went back on a visit

and I saw that the hole had been filled in

with three or four gleaming storeys

of a new paediatrics unit

and there you have the metaphor my friends for how to build back better now

we have a huge hole

in the public finances

We spent £407 bn on covid support

and our debt now stands at over two trillion pounds

and waiting lists will almost certainly go up before they come down

covid pushed out a great bow wave of cases

people did not or could not seek help

and that wave is now coming back

a tide of anxiety washing into every A and E and every GP

your hip replacement

your mother’s surgery

and this is the priority of the British people

does anyone seriously imagine that we should not now be raising the funding to sort this out

is that really the view of responsible conservatives?

I can tell you something

Margaret Thatcher would not have ignored this meteorite that has just crashed through the public finances

she would have wagged her finger and said more borrowing now is just higher interest rates and even higher taxes later

when this country was sick our NHS was the nurse

frontline health care workers

battled against a new disease

selflessly

risking their lives sacrificing their lives

and it is right that this Party that has looked after the NHS for most of its history

should be the one to rise to the challenge

48 new hospitals

50,000 more nurses

50m more GP appointments

40 new diagnostic centres

and fixing those backlogs with real change

because the pandemic not only put colossal pressure on the NHS

it was a lightning flash illumination of a problem we have failed to address for decades


‍Fixing Social Care

In 1948 this country created the National Health Service but kept social care local

and though that made sense in many ways generations of older people have found themselves

lost in the gap

when covid broke there were 100,000 beds in the NHS

  • and 30,000 occupied by people who could have been cared for elsewhere

whether at home or in residential care

and we all know that this problem of delayed discharge is one of the major reasons why

it takes too long to get the hospital treatment that your family desperately need

and people worry that they will be the one in ten

to suffer from the potentially catastrophic cost of dementia

wiping out everything they have

and preventing them from passing on anything to their families

and we Conservatives stand by those who have shared our values

thrift and hard work

and who face total destitution in this brutal lottery

of old age

in which treatment for cancer is funded by the state

and care for alzheimers is not – or only partly

and to fix these twin problems of the NHS and social care

we aren’t just going to siphon billions of new taxes into crucial services

without improving performance

we will

use new technology so that there is a single set of electronic records as patients pass between health and social care

improving care

and ensuring that cash goes to the frontline

and not on needless bureaucracy

When I stood on the steps of Downing Street I promised to fix this crisis

and after decades of drift and dither

this reforming government

this can do government

this government that got brexit done

that is getting the vaccine rollout done

is going to get social care done

and we are dealing with the biggest underlying issues of our economy and society

the problems that no government has had the guts to tackle before

and I mean the long term structural weaknesses

in the UK economy

It is thanks to that vaccine roll-out that we now have the most open economy and the fastest growth in the G7

we have unemployment two million lower than forecast

We have demand surging

and I am pleased to say that after years of stagnation – more than a decade – wages are going up

faster than before the pandemic began

and that matters deeply

because we are embarking now on a change of direction that has been long overdue

in the UK economy

we are not going back to the same old broken model

with low wages

low growth

low skills

and low productivity

all of it enabled and assisted by uncontrolled immigration

and the answer to the present stresses and strains

which are mainly a function of growth and economic revival

is not to reach for that same old lever of uncontrolled immigration

to keep wages low

the answer is to control immigration

to allow people of talent to come to this country

but not to use immigration as an excuse for failure to invest

in people, in skills

and in the equipment the facilities the machinery they need to do their jobs

the truckstops – to pick an example entirely at random – with basic facilities where you don’t have to urinate in the bushes

and that is the direction in which this country is going now

towards a high wage

high skill

high productivity

and yes, thereby low tax economy

that is what the people of this country need and deserve

in which everyone can take pride in their work and in the quality of their work

and yes it will take time

and yes it will sometimes be difficult

but that was the change that people voted for in 2016

and that was the change they voted for again powerfully in 2019

and to deliver that change we will get on with our job

of uniting and levelling up across the UK

the greatest project that any government can embark on

We have one of the most imbalanced societies and lop-sided economies

of all the richer countries

it is not just that there is a gap between London and the South east and the rest of the country

there are aching gaps within the regions themselves

what monkey glands are they applying in Ribble Valley

what royal jelly are they eating

that they live seven years longer than the people of Blackpool

only 33 miles away

Why does half of York’s population boast a degree and only a quarter of Doncaster’s

This is not just a question of social justice

it is an appalling waste of potential

and it is holding this country back

because there is no reason why the inhabitants of one part of the country should be geographically fated to be poorer than others

or why people should feel they have to move away from their loved ones, or communities to reach their potential

When Thomas Gray stood in that country churchyard in 1750 and wrote his famous elegy

as the curfew tolled the knell of parting day

he lamented

the wasted talents of those buried around him

the flowers born to blush unseen

the mute inglorious miltons who never wrote a poem

because they never got to read

the simple folk who died illiterate and innumerate

and he knew that it was an injustice

let me ask you, maybe you know

where was he standing when he chewed his pensive quill ? Anybody know

Correct, thank you, he was standing in Stoke poges

my friends there may be underprivileged parts of this country but stoke poges is not now among them

in fact it was only recently determined by the Daily Telegraph

and if you can’t believe that, what can you believe my friends

to be the 8th richest village in England

since gray elegised, Buckinghamshire has levelled up to be among the most productive regions in the whole of Europe

Stoke Poges may still of course have its problems

but they are the overwhelmingly caused the sheer lust of other people to live in or near Stoke Poges

overcrowded trains

endless commutes

too little time with the kids

the constant anxiety that your immemorial view of chalk downland is going to be desecrated by ugly new homes

and that is why levelling up works for the whole country

and is the right and responsible policy, because it

helps to take the pressure off parts of the overheating South East

while simultaneously

offering hope and opportunity to those areas that have felt left behind

and let us be clear that there is a huge philosophical difference between us and labour

because in their souls they don’t like levelling up

they like levelling down they do

they like decapitating the tall poppies and taxing the rich till the pips squeak

they dislike academic competition latin I hear

and in Islington – I kid you not I have seen it with my own eyes – they like kids to run races where nobody actually wins

and I have to tell you I don’t believe that is a good preparation for life

let alone for the Olympic games

and if you insist on the economic theory behind levelling up

it is contained in the insight of Wilfredo Pareto

a 19th century Italian figre who floated from the cobwebbed attic of my memories

that there are all kinds of improvements

you can make to people’s lives he said

without diminishing anyone else

Rishi will I am sure confirm this

and we call these pareto improvements

and they are the means of levelling up

and the idea in a nutshell it is that you will find talent genius flair imagination enthusiasm everywhere in this country all of them evenly distributed

but opportunity is not

and it is our mission as conservatives to promote opportunity

with every tool we have

and it is still a grim fact that in this country

that some kids will grow up in neighbourhoods that are safer than others

and some will be, as Priti was saying, some will be sucked into gangs

and some will be at risk of stabbing and shooting

and some will get themselves caught in the one way ratchet of the criminal justice system

and many others will not

that’s why levelling up means fighting crime

putting more police out on the beat as we are

and toughening sentences

and rolling up the county lines drugs networks as we are

1100 gone already

and giving the police the powers they need

to fight these dealers in death and misery that’s what we want to do

– and what is Labour’s answer, by the way –

to decriminalise hard drugs apparently

to let the gangsters off with a caution

an answer that is straight from the powder rooms of the North London dinner parties

and nothing to do with the real needs of this country

crime has been falling

and not just by the way because we took the precaution of locking up the public for much of the last 18 months

but because you have a conservative government that understands the broken windows theory of crime

I read a learned article by some lawyer saying we should not bother about pet theft

Well I say to Cruella de Vil QC – if you can steal a dog or a cat

then there is frankly no limit to your depravity

and you know those people gluing themselves to roads

I don’t call them legitimate protestors

like some Labour councillors do I, some Labour councillors actually glue themselves to roads

I say they are a confounded nuisance who are blocking ambulances, stopping people go about their daily lives

and I am glad Priti is taking new powers to insulate them snugly in prison where they belong

what I found most incredible of all was the decision by Labour

now led by lefty Islington lawyers

to vote against tougher sentences for serious sexual and violent offenders

and on behalf of the entire government I tell you

we will not rest until we have increased the successful prosecutions for rape

because too many lying bullying cowardly men are using the law’s delay

to get away with violence against women

and we cannot and we will not stand for it

and I know that there are some who now tell us that we are ungenerous and unfeeling in our attempts to control our borders

and I say – don’t give me that

This is the government that stood up to China and announced that we would provide a haven for British overseas nationals in Hong Kong

30,000 have already applied

and I am really proud to be part of a Conservative government that will welcome 20,000 Afghans

people who risked their lives to guide us and translate for us

we are doing the right and responsible thing

and speaking as the great grandson of a Turk who fled in fear of his life I know that this country is a beacon of light and hope for people around the world

provided they come here legally

provided we understand who they are and what they want to contribute

and that is why we took back control of our borders

and will pass the borders bill

because we believe there must be a distinction between someone who comes here legally and someone who doesn’t

and though I have every sympathy with people genuinely in fear of their lives

I have no sympathy whatever

with the people traffickers who take thousands of pounds

to send children to sea in frail and dangerous craft

and we must end this lethal trade

we must break the gangsters’ business model

and is it not a sublime irony that even in French politics there is now a leading centre right politician calling for a referendum on the EU

Who is now calling for France to reprendre le controle??

it’s good old Michel Barnier

that’s what happens if you spend a year trying to argue with Lord Frost

the greatest frost since the great frost of 1709

and we will fight these gangs at home and abroad

because their victims are invariably the poorest and the neediest

and I will tell you what levelling up is

a few years ago they started a school not far from the Olympic park

a new school that anyone could send their kids to

in an area that has for decades been one of the most disadvantaged in London

that school is Brampton Manor academy and it now sends more kids to Oxbridge than Eton

and if you want proof of what I mean by unleashing potential

and by levelling up

look at Brampton Manor

and we can do it

There is absolutely no reason why the kids of this country should lag behind

or why so many should be unable to read and write or do basic mathematics at the age of 11

and to level up

– on top of the extra 14 bn we’re putting into education

and on top of the increase that means every teacher starts with a salary of £30k

we are announcing a levelling up premium of up to £3000 to send the best maths and science teachers to the places that need them most

and above all we are investing in our skills, skills folks

our universities are world beating, I owe everything to my tutors and they are one of the great glories of our economy

but we all know that some of the most brilliant and imaginative and creative people in Britain

and some of the best paid people in Britain

did not go to university

and to level up you need to give people the options

the skills

that are right for them

and to make the most of those skills and knowledge

and to level up you need urgently to

plug all the other the gaps in our infrastructure that are still holding people and communities back

As I’ve been saying over this wonderful conference to you

when I became leader of this party, there were only, can you remember, what percentage of households had gigabit broadband when you were so kind as to make me leader? 7 percent, only 7 percent

and by the new year that will be up to 68 per cent

thanks to Rishi’s superdeduction the pace is now accelerating massively

as companies thrust the fibre-optic vermicelli in the most hard to reach places

it’s wonderful, for years SNP leader Ian Blackford has been telling the Commons that he is nothing but a humble crofter on the isle of Skye

well now we have fibre optic broadband of very high quality that we can inspect the library or is it perhaps the billiard room of Ian Blackford’s croft

and that is levelling up in action

and my friends it is not good enough just to rely on zoom

after decades of ducked decisions

our national infrastructure is way behind some of our key competitors

It is a disgrace that you still can’t swiftly cross the pennines by rail

a disgrace that leeds is the largest city in Europe with no proper metro system

a waste of human potential that so many places are not served by decent bus routes

transport is one of the supreme leveller-uppers

and we are making the big generational changes shirked by previous governments

we will do Northern Powerhouse rail

we will link up the cities of the midlands and the north

we will restore those sinews of the union that have been allowed to atrophy

the A1 north of Berwick and on into Scotland

the A 75 in Scotland that is so vital for the links with northern Ireland and the rest of the country

the north wales corridor

and we will invest in our roads

unblocking those coagulated roundabouts and steering-wheel-bending traffic lights

putting on 4000 more clean green buses

made in this country

some of them running on hydrogen

and as we come out of covid

our towns and cities are again going to be buzzing with life

because

we know

that a productive workforce

needs that spur

that only comes with face to face meetings

and water cooler gossip

if young people are to learn on the job in the way that they always have and must

we will and must see people back in the office

and that is why we are building back better with a once in an a century £640bn pound programme

of investment

and by making neighbourhoods safer

by putting in the gigabit broadband

by putting in the roads and the schools and the healthcare

we will enable more and more young people everywhere

to share the dream of home ownership

the great ambition of the human race

that the left always privately share but publicly disparage

and we can do it

Look at this country from the air
Go on google maps

you see how our landscape has been plotted and pieced and jigsawed together by centuries of bequests and litigation

a vast testament to security of title

trust in the law

a confidence that is responsible for so much international investment

you see how rich this country is growing

the billions of loving and incremental improvements to homes and gardens

you can see how beautiful it is

vast untouched moorland

and hills

broadleaf forests

we are going to re-wild parts of the country and consecrate a total of 30 per cent to nature

we are planting tens of millions of trees

otters are returning to rivers from which they have been absent for decades

beavers that have not been seen on some rivers since tudor times

massacred for their pelts

are now back

and if that isn’t conservatism, my friends I don’t know what is

build back beaver

‍and though the beavers may sometimes build without local authority permission

you can also see how much room there is

to build the homes that young families need in this country

not on green fields

not just jammed in the south east

but beautiful homes on brownfield sites

in places where homes make sense
Home ownership
And this government is helping young people to afford a home

It has been a scandal – a rebuke to all we stand for

that over the last 20 years the dream of home ownership

has receded

and yet under this government we are turning the tide

we have not only built more homes than at any time in the last 30 years

we are helping young people on to the property ladder

with our 95 per cent mortgages

and there is no happiness like taking a set of keys

and knowing that the place is yours

and you can paint the front door any colour you like

as it happens I am not allowed to paint my own front door, it has to be black

but I certainly don’t have far to go to work

and if you don’t have too far to go to work

and the commute is not too dreadful

and if

the job suits your skills

and your wifi is fast and reliable

then I tell you something else

that housing

in the right place

at an affordable price

will add massively not just to your general joie de vivre

but to your productivity

and that is how we solve the national productivity puzzle

by fixing the broken housing market

by plugging in the gigabit

by putting in decent safe bus routes and all other transport infrastructure

and by investing in skills skills skills

and that by the way is how we help to cut the cost of living for everyone

because housing, energy, transport

are now huge parts of our monthly bills

and it is by fixing our broken housing market

by sorting out our energy supply – more wind, more nuclear, becoming less dependent on hydrocarbons from abroad

by putting in those transport links

we will hold costs down and save you money

and we will make this country an even more attractive destination for foreign direct investment

We are already the number one

– look at the Nissan investment in Sunderland

or the Pfizer vaccine manufacturing centre that’s coming to Swindon

and with these productivity gains we will turbo charge that advantage

and help businesses to start and grow everywhere

so let me come now to the punchline of my sermon on the vaccine

It was not the government that made the wonder drug

it wasn’t brewed in the alembicks of the department of health

It was, of course it was Oxford University, but it was the private sector that made it possible

behind those vaccines are

companies and shareholders and, yes,

bankers

you need deep pools of liquidity that are to be found in the City of London

it was capitalism that ensured that we had a vaccine in less than a year

and the answer therefore is not to attack the wealth creators

it is to encourage them because they are responsible for the aggregate increase in the country’s wealth

that enables us to make those pareto improvements

and to level up everywhere

and to rub home my point

it is not just that vaccination has saved more than 120,000 lives

Vaccination has allowed us to meet like this

and blessed us with such rapid growth

with wages rising fastest for those on lowest incomes

and that levelling up in action

The vaccines have ensured that by a simple vowel mutation jabs jabs jabs

become jobs jobs jobs

the world’s most effective vaccines have saved our open society and free market economy

and it is our open society and free market economy that have produced the world’s most effective vaccines

and that is the symmetry in the lesson of the covid vaccines

– science, innovation, capitalism –

is vital now for the challenge we face

the challenge the whole humanity faces

is even more existential for our way of life

in just a few weeks time this country will host the summit of our generation in Glasgow

when the resolve of the world is put to the test

can we keep alive the ambition of Paris – to stop the planet heating by more than 1.5 degrees

government can’t do it alone

and taxpayers certainly can’t do it alone

the other day I took a boat out into the moray firth

to see an aquatic forest of white turbines towering over the water like the redwoods of california

and you have no idea of their size until you see them up close

the deceptive speed of their wings

twice the diameter of the London eye

their tips slicing the air at more than 100 miles per hour

and I met the young men and women

apprentices

who had moved straight across from the world of oil and gas

and they had the same excitement at working amid winds and wave

and being able to see whales and dolphins from the office window

but they had the extra satisfaction that goes with knowing you are doing something to save the planet

and get Britain to Net Zero by 2050

and that is the symmetry represented by these giant windmills

massive and innovative private sector investment

and a government taking the tough decisions to make it possible

that’s the difference between this radical and optimistic Conservatism

and a tired old Labour

did you see them last week, did you watch them last week in Brighton

hopelessly divided I thought they looked

their leader like a seriously rattled bus conductor

pushed this way and that by, not that they have bus conductors any more unfortunately, like a seriously rattled bus conductor pushed this way and that by a corbynista mob of sellotape-spectacled sans-culottes

or the skipper of a cruise liner that has been captured by Somali pirates

desperately trying to negotiate a change of course

and then changing his mind

and remember Labour’s performance during the pandemic

flapping with all the conviction of a damp tea towel

They refused to say that schools were safe

they would have kept us in the European medicines agency

and slammed the brakes on the vaccine roll out

the Labour leader attacked the vaccine task force for spending money on outreach to vaccine hesitant minority groups

when it is hard to think of any better use of public money

and let us try to forgive him on the basis that he probably didn’t know what he was talking about

in previous national crises labour leaders have opted to minimise public anxiety and confusion by not trying to score cheap party political points

one thinks of Attlee or even Michael foot in the falklands crisis

sadly that was not the approach taken by captain hindsight

attacking one week

then rowing in behind when it seemed to be working

the human weathervane

the starmer chameleon

and in his final act of absurd opportunism he decided to oppose step four of the roadmap in July

that’s right folks

if we had listened to captain hindsight we would still be in lockdown we wouldn’t have the fastest growth in the G7

if Columbus had listened to captain hindsight he’d be famous for having discovered Tenerife

and how utterly astonishing that in the last few weeks labour should actually have voted against new funding we’re putting frward for the NHS

and we need to remember why and how we have been able to back people through this pandemic at all

it was because we Conservatives fixed the economy

we repaired the damage Labour left behind

every labour government has left office with unemployment higher than when it came in

every single one – ever since the party was invented

and today we are going to fix this economy and build back better than ever before

and just as we used our new freedoms to accelerate the vaccine rollout

we are going to use our brexit freedoms to

to do things differently

we are doing the borders bill

we have seen off the European superleague and protected grassroots football

we are doing at least eight freeports

superfertilised loam in which

business will plant new jobs across the UK

and now we are going further

not only jettisoning the EU rules we don’t need any more

but using new freedoms to

improve the way we regulate in the great growth areas of the 21st century

as we fulfil our ambition of becoming a science superpower

gene editing

data management

AI

Cyber quantum
we are going to be ever more global in our outlook

we have done 68 free trade deals including that great free trade deal with our friends in the EU that they all said was impossible

and after decades of bewildering refusal we have persuaded the Americans to import prime British beef

a market already worth £66 m

build back burger I say

‍and you ask yourself how have the americans been able to survive without British beef for so long?

and if you want a supreme example of global Britain in action

of something daring and brilliant that would simply not have happened if we had remained in the EU

I give you AUKUS – an idea so transparently right that Labour conference voted overwhelmingly against it

and I know that there has been a certain raucus squaukus from the anti-aukus caucus

But Aukus is simply a recognition of the reality that

the world is tilting on its economic axis

and our trade and relations with the Indo pacfific region are becoming ever more vital than ever before

and that is why we have

sent the amazing carrier strike group

to the far east

been performing manoeuvres with 40 friendly countries

HMS Queen Elizabeth

as long as the entire palace of Westminster

and rather more compelling as an argument

than many speeches made in the house of commons

it has dozens of F35s on board

and 66 thousand sausages aboard

not because want to threaten or be adversarial to anyone

either with the F35s or indeed the sausages

but because we want to stick up for the rule of law that is so vital for freedom of navigation and free trade

and that is what brings AUKUS together

Australia, UK, US

shared values

a shared belief in democracy and human rights

‍and a shared belief in the equal dignity and worth of every human being

very few countries could have pulled off the Kabul airlift – an astonishing feat by our brave armed forces

even fewer have the same moral priorities

No other government brokered a deal such as this government did with Astra Zeneca

so that the Oxford vaccine has been distributed at cost around the world

more than a billion low cost vaccines

invented in Britain

saving millions of lives

we are led by our values

by the things we stand for

and we should never forget that people around the world admire this country for its history and its traditions

they love the groovy new architecture and the fashion and the music and the chance of meeting Michael in the disco

but they like the way it emerges organically from a vast inherited conglomerate of culture and tradition

and we conservatives understand the need for both and

how each nourishes the other

and we attack and deny our history at our peril

and when they began to attack Churchill as a racist I was minded to ignore them

it is only 20 years ago since BBC audiences overwhelmingly voted him the greatest Briton of all time

because he helped defeat a regime after all that was defined by one of the most vicious racisms

the world has ever seen

but as time has gone by it has become clear to me that

this isn’t just a joke

they really do want to re-write our national story

starting with hereward the woke

we really are at risk of a kind of know nothing cancel culture know nothing iconoclasm

and so we Conservatives will defend our history and cultural inheritance

not because we are proud of everything

but because trying to edit it now is as dishonest as a celebrity trying furtively to change his entry in Wikipedia

and its a betrayal of our children’s education

churchill’s last words to his cabinet, actually his whole ministers but his cabinet were there

were

Never be separated from the americans

pretty good advice I’m sure you’ll agree –

‍–

and ended with the observation

man is spirit

He was right there.

I believe that through history and accident this country has a unique spirit

the spirit of the NHS nurses AND the entrepreneurs

whose innovative flair means that there are three countries in the world that have produced more than 100 unicorns not a mythical beast

tech companies worth more than a billion dollars each

They are the US and China and the UK and those unicorns they are now dispersed around the United Kingdom in a way that is new to our country, that is the spirit of levelling up

and we need the spirit of the NHS nurses and the entrepreneurs because each enables the other

I mean

the spirit of the footballers who took England into the final of a major knock out tournament for the first time in the lives of the vast majority of the people of this country

probably, looking around at all you young thrusters, the majority of you in this room

the indomitable spirit of Emma Raducanu

her grace and her mental resilience when the game was going against her

because that is what counts

the spirit of our Olympians

it is an incredible thing to come yet again in the top four

a formidable effort for a country that has only 0.8 per cent of the world’s population

in spite of the best efforts of some us jacob

but when we come second in the Paralympics as well –

that shows our values

not only the achievement of those elite athletes

but a country that is proud to be a trailblazer

to judge people not by where they come from

but by their spirit

and by what is inside them

That is the spirit that is the same across this country

in every town and village and city that can be found

that can be found in the hearts and minds of kids growing up everywhere

and that is the spirit we are going to unleash.

While the conference hall lapped it up, others were less generous:

The SNP said: 🤦 Boris Johnson’s shameless attempt to shift the blame will do nothing to fix the crisis he has caused.

⚠️ Tory Universal Credit cuts and regressive tax hikes will push families into poverty.

🚨 Yet, just like Thatcher, the Prime Minister fails to show an ounce of regret.

Commenting on the Prime Minister’s speech at Conservative Party conference, in which he claimed previous goverments ‘haven’t had the guts’ to tackle big issues in our economy and society, Katie Schmuecker, Deputy Director of Policy & Partnerships at JRF said: “The Prime Minister has not had the guts to look the millions of people whose incomes are being cut today in the eye and tell them how they are expected to get through the year ahead.  

“The Prime Minister’s attempt to strike an upbeat tone is completely at odds with the despair people are feeling and the cost-of-living crisis we are now facing. He has chosen to cut £20 a week from the incomes of millions including many who are in work as well as those who cannot work due to sickness, disability or caring responsibilities. 

“Promises of a ‘high wage, high skill economy’ that will take years to reach will offer no comfort to families whose incomes have been cut, and the Government knows this.  

“It is a sign of profound disrespect that he did not even acknowledge the struggle people across the country on low incomes are facing on the very day that the biggest ever cut to social security comes into force.” 

Anneliese Dodds MP, Labour’s Party Chair, responding to the Prime Minister’s speech at the Conservative Party conference, said: “Boris Johnson’s vacuous speech summed up this whole Conservative conference. The PM talked more about beavers than he did about action to tackle the multiple crises facing working people up and down the country.

“Far from getting a grip on the spiralling costs of energy, fuel and food, the Tories are actively making things worse – cutting incomes today for six million families by over £1,000 a year.

“Britain deserves a fairer, greener and more secure future. Last week Labour set out how we can get there. This week it’s clear that after over a decade in power the Conservatives don’t have a clue.”

Responding to Boris Johnson’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “If Boris Johnson was serious about levelling up Britain, he wouldn’t be slashing universal credit in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.  

“The PM is in no position to lecture people on wages when he is holding down the pay of millions of key workers in the public sector.  

“And when he is doing nothing to fix the gaping hole in local authority budgets that has resulted in most social care workers being paid less than the real living wage. 

“As the country’s biggest employer, the government should be setting an example on paying staff properly – not skimping on wages. 

“My advice to the PM is simple. The best way to level up pay and conditions across the country is to give workers and their unions more bargaining power at work. 

“11 years into a Conservative government we hope that he can finally learn this lesson.” 

Commenting on the PM’s claims that wages are rising, Frances added: “Wages are barely rising above inflation, and millions of key workers – who got us through this crisis – are facing a real-terms pay cut this autumn.” 

Running Scotland: SNP and Greens to discuss formal agreement

Talks on Co-operation Agreement announced

Scottish Ministers will enter structured talks with the Scottish Green Party, supported by the civil service, with a view to reaching a formal Co-operation Agreement.

The initiative is part of a refreshed pledge to change politics in Scotland for the better by working with opposition parties to find the best solutions to the toughest of problems, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said.

In the weeks leading up to the next Parliamentary Recess talks will be ongoing and focus on agreeing policy areas which the government and the Scottish Green Party will co-operate on.

During a statement to Parliament this afternoon the First Minister told the Chamber that she is committed to compromise and constructive conversations as she extended an open offer to collaborate with all of the elected parties.

A cross-party steering group on Covid Recovery has already been established by the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery to welcome all contributions to secure a strong recovery from the pandemic.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “In Scotland and across the world we have massive challenges to confront and overcome: a global pandemic, the climate emergency, and the need to build an economic recovery that is strong, sustainable and fair.

“In the face of all of that, people across Scotland expect – indeed, demand – a grown-up and co-operative approach to politics that puts the interests of the country first.

“We want to reach out and find the best solutions to the toughest of problems. Our duty is to co-operate and not to find the lowest common denominator, but as a way of raising the bar higher.

“I can confirm that the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party will enter structured talks, supported by the civil service, with a view to reaching, if we can, a formal Co-operation Agreement.

“Exactly what the content, extent and scope of any Agreement will be is what the talks will focus on but what we hope to achieve is potentially groundbreaking.

“The key point for today is that we are both agreeing to come out of our comfort zones to find new ways of working for the common good to change the dynamic of our politics for the better, and give meaning to the founding principles of our Parliament.

“What we are embarking on will require compromise on both sides but it will also require us to be bold and given the challenges we face, that is a good thing, in fact it is the whole point. By working together we can help build a better future for Scotland.”

Responding, Scottish Greens Co-Leader Lorna Slater MSP said: “Scotland desperately needs a green recovery from the pandemic that leaves no-one behind, while time is running out for meaningful action on the climate emergency. 

“The Scottish Greens have always worked constructively with other parties, delivering meaningful change like free bus travel for young people, and earlier this month the public returned the largest ever Green group to parliament to take that work further and faster. We hope that through these talks we can deliver real change.”

The Greens have drawn from the experience of their colleagues in Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, and have held discussions between the two-parties’ Co-Leaders in recent weeks. 

Patrick Harvie MSP said: “Politics does not have to be about point-scoring and short-termism. Green parties across Europe and in countries like New Zealand have in recent years rolled up their sleeves and worked with other parties to deliver a better future.

“But they have also shown that there is more than one way for government and opposition parties to work together, without losing the ability to challenge one another. We believe the people of Scotland want to see grown-up politics like this, and will approach the forthcoming talks in this spirit”

Talks between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Green Party are expected to conclude before the next Parliamentary Recess.

Alba: Creating a Supermajority for Indpendence?

‘Tipping the balance in Scotland’s favour’?

The Alba Party is looking for voters in May’s Holyrood elections to cast their votes for them on the regional list. They say this will deliver a ‘supermajority’ for independence. How would this work?

‘The more success a party has on the constituency vote, the less well it does on the regional list vote. That’s why in 2016 #BothVotesSNP led to 1 million wasted pro-independence list votes.

‘Voting Alba Party on May 6th will make sure no pro-independence vote goes to waste by securing a #Supermajority for independence.

‘Let’s tip the balance in Scotland’s favour.

‘The Westminster Government has already said it will not allow another independence referendum in Scotland.

‘The #Supermajority will be the only mandate needed to begin negotiating Scotland’s independence as a parliament, rather than just a party.

‘On May 6th you have two votes. On your constituency ballot paper, #voteSNP for your local SNP candidate. On your regional ballot paper, #voteAlba Party to ensure an independence #Supermajority.

‘The weight of these two votes combined, will tip the balance in Scotland’s favour and guarantee a #Supermajority for independence in the Scottish Parliament this year.‘

However The Scottish National Party says that if you want independence, you must vote SNP:

‘The 2011 Scottish election produced a result that was never meant to happen. A majority pro-independence government, against all odds. So how did voters in Scotland do it?

‘At the elections, the SNP won 53 constituency seats on the first vote. But it was the 16 seats won on the regional list, with voters second vote, that got the SNP over the line.

‘It was with people voting Both Votes SNP that secured the first majority government.

‘Other parties say that you don’t have to vote Both Votes SNP in order to vote for independence. They say people should vote for them instead. But they said the same in 2016 – and the SNP lost its majority.

‘Holyrood got less pro-independence MSPs, and Westminster used it as an excuse to question Scotland’s pro-independence mandate.

‘Their tactical voting gamble has failed.

‘This election really comes down to one question. Do you want to put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands, or those of Boris Johnson?

‘If you want to help build a better, more progressive future for Scotland, then make it #BothVotesSNP on 6 May.

‘This will be the most important election in Scottish history. Every single vote will count. Scotland’s future is in your hands.‘

While their political priority remains the climate change and the environment, the Scottish Greens also support Scottish independence.

The Conservatives, Scottish Labour and the Lib Dems all oppose independence and say recovery from the pandemic must take priority over constitutional issues.

Green budget deal sealed

More than 200,000 additional children to receive free school meals

More than 200,000 additional primary school children will receive free school meals, including over 17,300 in City of Edinburgh, over 4,900 in East Lothian, over 4,400 in Midlothian and over 8,800 in West Lothian thanks to a budget deal struck between the SNP and the Scottish Greens.

The deal will see free school meals provision expanded to all primary children by next summer, phased in on a timetable agreed with local councils, and ensure that those currently eligible get free meals throughout the school holidays.

The agreement will ensure passage of the Scottish Government’s budget through parliament.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes has struck a deal which guarantees the Budget Bill can clear its final stages.

It will see the phased introduction of free school meals for all primary pupils, an enhanced public sector pay deal, new Pandemic Support Payments and additional funding to support environmental, active travel and energy efficiency initiatives.

Talks are continuing ahead of tomorrow’s Stage 3 debate with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, who voted for the budget at Stage 1 in exchange for increased spending on mental health, business support and education recovery.

The new commitments build on the budget’s existing measures to address the challenges of the ongoing pandemic and lay the foundations for recovery. These include meeting the main ask of business by extending 100% rates relief for the retail, hospitality, leisure, aviation and newspaper sectors for a further 12 months – considerably exceeding the relief offered in England – supporting families by allocating money for a council tax freeze and providing record £16 billion to the NHS.

The new initiatives will be funded mainly from the unallocated balance of funding from last week’s UK budget.

They include:

  • Pandemic Support Payments of £130 to households receiving Council Tax Reduction and two payments of £100 to families of children qualifying for free school meals
  • the phased introduction of free school meals to all primary school children by August 2022
  • an £800 pay rise for public sector workers earning up to £25,000, and a 2% increase for those earning over £25,000 up to £40,000.
  • extending free bus travel to under 22s
  • £40 million to support the green recovery, including a further £15 million for active travel, £10 million for energy efficiency, £10 million for biodiversity and £5 million for agri-environmental measures

Ms Forbes said: “We continue to face unprecedented challenges and I have sought to engage constructively to deliver a budget that meets the needs of the nation.

“I would like to thank all parties for the positive way they have participated in this process. The budget addresses key issues raised by every party and I hope all MSPs feel able to support it. We have reached an agreement with the Scottish Greens and I am hopeful about the outcome of my continuing talks with the Liberal Democrats.

“Today I can announce that we are able to go further in offering a fair and affordable pay settlement to the public sector workers to whom we owe so much through the pandemic, particularly the lowest paid.

“The budget already contains measures to help struggling families, but in this deal we are also announcing details of a £100 million programme of one-off Pandemic Support Payments. And we commit to providing free school meals to every primary school pupil by August 2022, with expansion for P4s starting after this year’s summer holidays.

“A green recovery lies at the heart of the Scottish Government’s policies and today we are delivering significant new investments in energy efficiency and active travel, while providing additional funding to support biodiversity and make our agriculture more environmentally-friendly.

“And, as we rebuild from Covid, we will support our young people by extending our original commitment to concessionary travel for all under 19s to include everyone up to age 22, giving all 18-21 year olds free bus travel.

“Every penny made available to us to tackle the pandemic has been allocated. These remain difficult times, but this budget puts us on the path to a fairer, greener and more prosperous Scotland.”

Scottish Greens Lothian MSP Alison Johnstone said: “I am absolutely delighted that our budget deal ensures that all primary school children will receive free school meals from the summer of 2022, with p4 pupils getting them from this summer and p5 from January.”

“I know this news will be welcomed by the families who will benefit from this forward-thinking policy. Knowing that every primary school child will benefit from a healthy meal every day will make a huge difference to families’ finances and wellbeing.”

All P1-P3 pupils currently get free school meals. The Green deal will expand this to P4 in August 2021, P5 in January 2022, and P6 and P7 children in August 2022.

£49.5m has been allocated to fund this this year, and £112m next year.

Scottish Government ‘no longer clapping for carers’

Responding to the Finance Secretary’s comments to the Finance and Constitution Committee meeting this morning on social care pay, Rhea Wolfson of the GMB Scotland Women’s Campaign Unit said: “On International Women’s Day Kate Forbes has cut a budget deal with the Greens that sells short tens of thousands of women across the social care sector – and what’s worse is the Finance Secretary used our NHS nurses as a reason for not delivering a £15 an hour minimum.

“The fight for a £15 social care minimum hasn’t been “plucked out of a hat”. What our members are asking politicians to do is support the objective of bringing social care pay into line with the average hourly rate of pay, to help tackle the recruitment crisis in care and to ensure a chronically exploited workforce are properly valued for the work they do. 

“The Scottish Government claimed it wanted to put social care on an equal footing with the NHS and the Feeley Review has shown that a significant investment in social care and its workers could have a transformative effect on our economy and society.

“After the tragic events of the last year, a golden opportunity was there to do the right thing by our care workers but instead the Finance Secretary has chosen to pit key worker against key worker to keep one group mired in low-pay.

“It’s clear the Scottish Government is no longer clapping for our carers.”

Responding to the amended Scottish Budget with improvements in public sector pay policy, expanded access to free school meals and additional payments to less well-off households, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said: “We have strongly pressed the Scottish Government to reject the real terms pay cuts approach of the Tories at Westminster and we recognise the different course that the Finance Secretary has taken on Public Sector Pay Policy in Scotland.

“We welcome the Scottish Greens’ intervention to press for a better deal for public sector workers, the expansion of free school meal to all primary children and additional payments to poorer households.

“But revising public sector pay policy is less than half of the story. We remain deeply concerned that pay commitments must be funded across the public sector. Local councils continue to be starved of funding despite delivering so many of our essential public services and with so many workers who deliver those services being underpaid and undervalued.

“Nowhere is this more the case than for our social care workers in the public, third and private sectors. The Cabinet Secretary indicated that this will not be the final budget revision of the year and that she will respect the outcome of a collectively bargained pay deal for the care sector.

“To make this commitment meaningful and to address the scandal of low pay, the Government must commit to fund that deal and we intend to campaign hard to hold them to this.”

“The proposed extension of free schools meals to all primary aged children is an important step towards our campaign goal of achieving universal provision for all secondary school, primary school and nursery children. We intend to continue that campaign.”

Salmond: At last … it’s time to talk

Former First Minister Alex Salmond will give evidence to the Committee on the Scottish Government’s Handling of Harassment Complaints at Holyrood this afternoon.

The Committee’s remit is to consider and report on the actions of the First Minister, Scottish Government officials and special advisers in dealing with complaints about Alex Salmond, former First Minister, considered under the Scottish Government’s “Handling of harassment complaints involving current or former ministers” procedure and actions in relation to the Scottish Ministerial Code.

In a formal submission to the committee, Mr Salmond maintains that senior members of the SNP colluded with civil servants in an orchestrated campaign to damage his reputation.

He also accuses First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of both misleading parliament and breaking the Ministerial Code. If this is proven, Ms Sturgeon would be expected to resign.

Ms Sturgeon yesterday dismissed Salmond’s claims as ‘a litany of nonsence’.

This is much more serious than a ‘he said, she said’ internal SNP stooshie: the allegations go right to the heart of Scotland’s democratic structures.

So the stakes couldn’t be higher. It remains to be seen whether today’s session will see us inch any closer to the truth …

Willie Rennie challenged over Lib Dems’ pro-Brexit stance

INDEPENDENCE ‘THE ONLY WAY’ TO SECURE SCOTLAND’S PLACE IN THE EU

The SNP has challenged Willie Rennie to say whether he backs his London bosses, after UK Lib Dem leader Ed Davey confirmed that his party would abandon any attempts to rejoin the EU, joining Labour and the Tories in becoming a pro-Brexit party. 

In an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, he said that the Lib Dems are “not a rejoin party” – despite promising to voters in their 2019 General Election manifesto that every vote for the party was a “vote to stop Brexit and stay in the European Union”.

The move confirms the SNP as the only major party committed to reversing Brexit and securing Scotland’s membership of the EU.

SNP candidate for Edinburgh Western, Sarah Masson, said: “The Lib Dems have firmly joined the Tories and Labour in becoming pro-Brexit parties, making it crystal clear that the only way to protect Scotland’s interests and secure our place in the EU is to become an independent country.

“With the Lib Dems delivering another trademark U-turn, Willie Rennie must end the silence and clarify whether he stands by his previous pledge to ‘pursue re-entry’ to the EU – and if so, how he squares that with his UK colleagues’ policy –  or if it was all hollow rhetoric and he will simply now fall into line and accept the devastating impact Brexit is having on Scottish businesses, including our vital fishing communities.  

“The SNP is now the only major pro-EU party committed to rejoining the EU. With the main Westminster parties all signed up to Brexit and the damaging consequences it brings – even in the event of a change in government – there is no route back to the EU through Westminster.

“Scotland can do so much better than a Westminster system acting against our interests. Only by becoming an independent country will we be able to work to rejoin the EU, protect our vital industries and economy, and be part of the world’s largest single market.”

SNP announce free school meals for all Primary School pupils

“PROGRESSIVE VISION TO TACKLE POVERTY IN THE FACE OF TORY CUTS”

SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald has welcomed the announcement that every primary school pupil in Edinburgh will be eligible for free school meals, all year around, if the SNP is re-elected in May. 

Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, set out this latest step in the drive to tackle child poverty and make Scotland the first nation in the UK to offer universal free primary school meals at the SNP annual conference at the weekend.

The SNP previously extended eligibility for a free school lunch to all P1 to P3 pupils while P4 to P7 pupils are eligible based on a range of income and benefits criteria.

Now, in the face of predictions that Westminster cuts will drive child poverty rates even higher, the expansion – estimated to cost around £230 million per year in additional expenditure – will introduce a free year-round breakfast and lunch for all primary school pupils from August 2022. 

SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Gordon MacDonald, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has put real financial pressure on families, and it’s right that the Scottish Government ensured that children in Edinburgh would continue to receive free school meals over the holidays.

“But I am happy that we are not stopping there. If the SNP is re-elected in May, every single primary school pupil in Edinburgh will be eligible for free breakfast and lunch, all year round.

“And unlike the Tories, we didn’t have to be publicly shamed and condemned into choosing to feed hungry children – that is the basic duty of any government.

“This ambitious expansion of the free school meals scheme is the next step in our battle to stop the Tories forcing more and more kids into poverty, support families, and make Scotland the best place to grow up.

“That progressive vision, underpinned by human rights, equality and wellbeing, is exactly why people in Scotland continue to put their faith in the SNP.”

Chancellor: A Plan for Jobs

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s Summer Statement speech to the House of Commons this afternoon:

Mr Speaker,

I stood here in March saying I knew people were worried. And I know they’re worried still.

We have taken decisive action to protect our economy.

But people are anxious about losing their job, about unemployment rising. We’re not just going to accept this.

People need to know we will do all we can to give everyone the opportunity of good and secure work.

People need to know that although hardship lies ahead, no one will be left without hope.

So, today, we act, with a Plan for Jobs.

Our plan has a clear goal: to protect, support and create jobs.

It will give businesses the confidence to retain and hire.

To create jobs in every part of our country.

To give young people a better start.

To give people everywhere the opportunity of a fresh start.

Where problems emerge, we will confront them.

Where support is justified, we will provide it.

Where challenges arise, we will overcome them.

We entered this crisis unencumbered by dogma and we continue in this spirit, driven always by the simple desire to do what is right.

Mr Speaker,

Before I turn to our Plan for Jobs, let me first outline the nature of the challenge.

Our economic response to coronavirus is moving through three phases.

In the first phase, beginning in March, the government announced social distancing measures and ordered businesses to close, halting the spread of the disease.

We put in place one of the largest and most comprehensive economic responses in the world.

Our £160 billion plan protects people’s jobs, incomes and businesses:

  • we supported more than 11 million people and jobs through the job retention and self-employment schemes, alongside billions of pounds for the most vulnerable
  • we supported over a million businesses to protect jobs, through tax cuts, tax deferrals, direct cash grants, and over a million government-backed loans
  • and we supported public services, with new funding for the NHS, schools, public transport, and local authorities

In total, we have now provided £49 billion to support public services since this crisis began.

Analysis I’m publishing today shows our interventions significantly protected people’s incomes, with the least well off in society supported the most.

And this crisis has highlighted the special bond which holds our country together.

Millions of people in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been protected by the UK government’s economic interventions – and they will be supported by today’s Plan for Jobs.

No nationalist can ignore the undeniable truth: this help has only been possible because we are a United Kingdom.

Mr Speaker,

Four months on, as we carefully reopen our economy, we are entering the second phase of our economic response.

Despite the extraordinary support we’ve already provided, we face profound economic challenges:

  • world economic activity has slowed, with the IMF expecting the deepest global recession since records began
  • household consumption – the biggest component of our economy – has fallen steeply
  • businesses have stopped trading and stopped hiring
  • taken together, in just two months our economy contracted by 25% – the same amount it grew in the previous eighteen years.

And the independent Office for Budget Responsibility and Bank of England are both projecting significant job losses – the most urgent challenge we now face.

I want every person in this House and in the country to know that I will never accept unemployment as an unavoidable outcome.

We haven’t done everything we have so far just to step back now and say, ‘job done’. In truth, the job has only just begun.

Mr Speaker,

If the first phase of our economic response was about protection…

…and the second phase – the phase we are addressing today – is about jobs…

…there will come a third phase, where we will rebuild.

My Right Honourable Friend the Prime Minister has set out our vision to level up, unite the country, spread opportunity, and repair and heal the wounds exposed through this crisis.

I can tell the House we will produce a Budget and Spending Review in the autumn.

And, we will deal too, with the challenges facing our public finances.

Over the medium-term, we must, and we will, put our public finances back on a sustainable footing.

In other words, our Plan for Jobs will not be the last action – it is merely the next – in our fight to recover and rebuild after coronavirus.

Mr Speaker, Let me now turn to the detail of our plan for jobs.

Central to our economic response has been the Jobs Retention Scheme.

Furlough has been a lifeline for millions, supporting people and businesses to protect jobs. But it cannot and should not go on forever.

I know that when furlough ends it will be a difficult moment. I’m also sure that if I say the scheme must end in October, critics will say it should end in November. If I say it should end in November, critics will just say December.

But the truth is: calling for endless extensions to the furlough is just as irresponsible as it would have been, back in June, to end the scheme overnight.

We have to be honest.

Leaving the furlough scheme open forever gives people false hope that it will always be possible to return to the jobs they had before.

And the longer people are on furlough, the more likely it is their skills could fade, and they will find it harder to get new opportunities.

It is in no-one’s long term interests for the scheme to continue forever … least of all those trapped in a job that can only exist because of a government subsidy.

So the furlough will wind down, flexibly and gradually, supporting businesses and people through to October.

But while we can’t protect every job, one of the most important things we can do to prevent unemployment is to get as many people as possible from furlough back to their jobs.

So, today, we’re introducing a new policy to reward and incentivise employers who successfully bring furloughed staff back – a new Jobs Retention Bonus.

If you’re an employer and you bring someone back who was furloughed – and you continuously employ them through to January – we will pay you a £1,000 bonus per employee.

It is vital people aren’t just returning for the sake of it – they need to be doing decent work.

So for businesses to get this bonus, the employee must be paid at least £520 on average, in each month from November to January the equivalent of the lower earnings limit in National Insurance.

The House should understand the significance of this policy. We will pay the bonus for all furloughed employees.

So if employers bring back all nine million people who have been furloughed, this would be a £9 billion policy to retain people in work.

Our message to business is clear: if you stand by your workers, we will stand by you.

Mr Speaker, The furlough was the right policy to support people through the first phase of this crisis.

But now, in this new phase, we need to evolve our approach.

Today, I want to set out for the House a new three-point plan for jobs.

We need to:

  • first – support people to find jobs
  • second – create jobs
  • and third – protect jobs

Mr Speaker,

Let me start with supporting jobs, and in particular the help we want to provide for those who will be hardest hit by this crisis: younger people.

Over 700,000 people are leaving education this year.

Many more are just starting out in their careers.

Coronavirus has hit them hard – under 25s are two and a half times as likely to work in a sector that has been closed.

We cannot lose this generation, so today, I am announcing the Kickstart Scheme:

A new programme to give hundreds of thousands of young people, in every region and nation of Britain, the best possible chance of getting on and getting a job.

The Kickstart Scheme will directly pay employers to create new jobs for any 16 to 24-year-old at risk of long-term unemployment.

These will be new jobs – with the funding conditional on the firm proving these jobs are additional.

These will be decent jobs – with a minimum of 25 hours per week paid at least the National Minimum Wage.

And they will be good quality jobs – with employers providing Kickstarters with training and support to find a permanent job.

If employers meet these conditions, we will pay young people’s wages for six months, plus an amount to cover overheads.

That means, for a 24-year-old, the grant will be around £6,500.

Employers can apply to be part of the scheme from next month, with the first Kickstarters in their new jobs this autumn.

And I urge every employer, big or small, national or local, to hire as many Kickstarters as possible.

Today, I’m making available an initial £2 billion; enough to fund hundreds of thousands of jobs.

And I commit today: there will be no cap on the number of places available.

We can do more for young people:

  • traineeships are a proven scheme to get young people ready for work. We know they work, so for the first time ever we will pay employers £1,000 to take on new trainees, with triple the number of places
  • to support 18-19-year olds leaving school or college to find work in high-demand sectors like engineering, construction and social care, we’ll provide £100 million to create more places on Level 2 and 3 courses
  • and the evidence says careers advice works, so we will fund it, with enough new careers advisers to support over a quarter of a million more people.

We will also expand our universal skills offer:

Sector-Based Work Academies provide training, work placements, and a guaranteed job interview in high-demand sectors.

The evidence shows they work, so we will expand them – tripling the number of places.

And we know apprenticeships work, too – 91% of apprentices stay in work or do further training afterwards.

So for the next six months, we’re going to pay employers to create new apprenticeships.

We will pay businesses to hire young apprentices, with a new payment of £2,000 per apprentice.

And we will introduce a brand-new bonus for businesses to hire apprentices aged 25 and over, with a payment of £1,500.

And let me thank my Right Honourable Friend the Education Secretary for his support and commitment in developing these measures.

Mr Speaker,

We know the longer someone is out of work, the harder it is to return. Millions of people are moving onto Universal Credit – they need urgent support to get back to work.

So, we are:

  • doubling the number of Work Coaches in Job Centres
  • increasing the Flexible Support Fund
  • extending the Rapid Response Service
  • expanding the Work and Health Programme
  • and developing a new scheme to support the long-term unemployed

The academic and economic evidence tells us these are among the most effective things we can do.

So I’m investing an extra billion pounds in DWP, to support millions of people back to work.

And I’m grateful for everything my Right Honourable Friend the Work and Pensions secretary, and her incredible team, have done.

£1 billion of support for the unemployed; more money for skills, traineeships, and apprenticeships; and a new, good quality job for hundreds of thousands of new Kickstarters – the first part of our plan for jobs.

Mr Speaker,

The second part of our plan is to support job creation.

That begins with historic investment in infrastructure – creating jobs in every region and nation of the UK.

At Budget, I announced £88 billion of capital funding this year; and last week the Prime Minister announced our plans to accelerate £5 billion of additional investment projects.

We are doubling down on our ambition to level up…

…with better roads, better schools, better hospitals, better high streets, creating jobs in all four corners of our country.

Mr Speaker, As well as investing in infrastructure, we want to create green jobs.

This is going to be a green recovery with concern for our environment at its heart.

As part of that, I’m announcing today a new, £2 billion Green Homes Grant.

From September, homeowners and landlords will be able to apply for vouchers to make their homes more energy efficient and create local jobs.

The grants will cover at least two thirds of the cost, up to £5,000 per household.

And for low income households, we’ll go even further with vouchers covering the full cost – up to £10,000.

On top of the £2 billion voucher scheme, I am releasing £1 billion of funding to improve the energy efficiency of public sector buildings…

…alongside a £50 million fund to pilot the right approach to decarbonise social housing.

Taken together, we expect these measures to:

  • make over 650,000 homes more energy efficient
  • save households up to £300 a year on their bills
  • cut carbon by more than half a mega tonne per year, equivalent to taking 270,000 cars off the road
  • and, most importantly right now, support around 140,000 green jobs

A £3 billion green jobs plan to save money; cut carbon; and create jobs.

Mr Speaker, One of the most important sectors for job creation is housing.

The construction sector adds £39 billion a year to the UK economy;

House building alone supports nearly three quarter of a million jobs;

With millions more relying on the availability of housing to find work.

But property transactions fell by 50% in May.

House prices have fallen for the first time in eight years.

And uncertainty abounds in the market – a market we need to be thriving.

We need people feeling confident – confident to buy, sell, renovate, move and improve.

That will drive growth. That will create jobs.

So to catalyse the housing market and boost confidence, I have decided today to cut stamp duty.

Right now, there is no stamp duty on transactions below £125,000.

Today, I am increasing the threshold to half a million pounds.

This will be a temporary cut running until 31st March next year.

And, as is always the case, these changes to stamp duty will take effect immediately.

The average stamp duty bill will fall by £4,500.

And nearly nine out of ten people buying a main home this year, will pay no stamp duty at all.

Stamp duty cuts; A £5,000 Green Homes Grant; And tens of billions of pounds of new capital projects.

We are creating jobs, the second part of our Plan for Jobs.

Mr Speaker, The final part of our plan will protect jobs that already exist by helping some of our highest-employing but hardest-hit sectors: hospitality and tourism.

Our economy relies on consumption, especially social consumption:

The pubs, cafes, restaurants, hotels and B&Bs that bring life to our villages, towns and cities.

Taken together these sectors employ over 2 million people disproportionately younger, women and people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

And many rural and coastal communities rely on these industries.

80% of hospitality firms temporarily stopped trading in April and 1.4 million workers have been furloughed, the highest proportions of any sector.

So the best jobs programme we can do is to restart these sectors and get our pubs, restaurants, cafés and B&Bs bustling again.

I know people are cautious about going out.

But we wouldn’t have lifted the restrictions if we didn’t think we could do so safely.

And I’ve seen in the last few weeks how hard businesses are working to make their premises safe.

And if we follow the guidance, and respect what they ask us to do, we can all enjoy summer safely.

In turn, we need to give these businesses the confidence to know that if they open up, invest in making their premises safe, and protect jobs, demand will be there, and be there quickly.

So today, I’m announcing two new measures to get these sectors moving and protect jobs.

First, at the moment, VAT on hospitality and tourism is charged at 20%.

So I’ve decided, for the next six months, to cut VAT on food, accommodation and attractions.

Eat-in or hot takeaway food from restaurants, cafes and pubs;

Accommodation in hotels, B&Bs, campsites and caravan sites;

Attractions like cinemas, theme parks and zoos;

All these and more will see VAT reduced from next Wednesday until January 12th, from 20% to 5%.

This is a £4 billion catalyst for the hospitality and tourism sectors, benefiting over 150,000 businesses, and consumers everywhere – all helping to protect 2.4 million jobs.

But, Mr Speaker, we will go further. The final measure I’m announcing today has never been tried in the UK before. This moment is unique. We need to be creative.

So, to get customers back into restaurants, cafes and pubs, and protect the 1.8 million people who work in them, I can announce today that, for the month of August, we will give everyone in the country an Eat Out to Help Out discount.

Meals eaten at any participating business, Monday to Wednesday, will be 50% off, up to a maximum discount of £10 per head for everyone, including children.

Businesses will need to register, and can do so through a simple website, open next Monday.

Each week in August, businesses can then claim the money back, with the funds in their bank account within 5 working days.

1.8 million people work in this industry. They need our support and with this measure we can all eat out to help out.

A VAT cut to 5%;

And a first-of-its-kind government-backed discount for all;

That’s the third part of our Plan for Jobs.  

So, Mr Speaker,

A £1,000 Jobs Retention Bonus.

New, high quality jobs for hundreds of thousands of young Kickstarters.

£1bn to double the number of work coaches and support the unemployed.

More apprenticeships; more traineeships; more skills funding.

Billions of pounds for new, job creation projects around the country.

A £3 billion plan to support 140,000 green jobs.

And in this vital period, as we get going again:

VAT cut.

Stamp duty cut.

Meals out cut.

Mr Speaker, all part of our Plan for Jobs worth up to £30 billion.

Mr Speaker,

Governments, much less people, rarely get to choose the moments that define them. What choice there is comes in how we respond.

For me, this has never just been a question of economics, but of values:

I believe in the nobility of work.

I believe in the inspiring power of opportunity.

I believe in the British people’s fortitude and endurance.

And it is that value, endurance, more than any other, we need to embody now.

A patience to live with the uncertainty of the moment…

…to find that new balance between safety and normality.

We will not be defined by this crisis, but by our response to it.

It is an unambiguous choice to make this moment meaningful for our country in a way that transcends the frustration and loss of recent months.

It is a plan to turn our national recovery into millions of stories of personal renewal.

Mr Speaker, it is our Plan for Jobs and I commend it to this House.

Anneliese Dodds MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to the Government’s ‘Plan for Jobs’, said: “Labour has repeatedly called on the government to match the ambitions of Labour’s Future Jobs Fund, to rise to the youth unemployment challenge.

“To the extent that the ‘Kickstart’ programme is based on the Future Jobs Fund model, it should help many young people to access work.

“However, the Government are yet to rise to the scale of the unemployment crisis. The urgent priority right now is to prevent additional unnecessary unemployment in the first place by abandoning the Government’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to the removal of the Job Retention and Self-Employed schemes.

“In addition, older people who become unemployed, and those living in particularly hard-hit areas, will also need tailored support.

“Government also urgently needs to get test, track and isolate right, as ultimately the biggest drag on our economy has been the slow public health response, which threatens additional localised lockdowns and which has reduced consumer confidence.”

Responding the UK Chancellor’s Summer Statement today, Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said: “We called for an £80bn stimulus package to build a strong, green and inclusive economic recovery and while there are elements in this announcement to be welcomed, in particular the measures on VAT for tourism and hospitality, overall this package is a huge opportunity missed. It falls well short of delivering what is needed to boost the economy and protect jobs.

“There is no new capital spend, no extension to the furlough scheme for hard-hit sectors and no further support for households in financial difficulty. A half price meal out does not help those struggling to put food on the table.

“Many of the initiatives are short-lived and do not provide long term certainty for business or households. Instead they will simply push the problems back to the end of the year when we will also have to deal with the end of the transition period with the EU.

“Despite announcing new funding measures worth up to £30bn today, most of it bypasses devolution and does not provide the Scottish Government with the funding we need to enable us to tailor an economic response that meets Scotland’s needs.

“Like all governments, we are facing huge spending pressures but we do not have the tools that others have to meet them. Along with the Governments of Wales and Northern Ireland, we set out a reasonable, proportionate set of new financial powers that would enable the Scottish Government to respond effectively. Regrettably, the UK Government has turned a deaf ear to those needs.”

Also responding to measures announced today by the chancellor in his summer statement, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Mass unemployment is now the biggest threat facing the UK, as shown by the thousands of job losses at British Airways, Airbus and elsewhere.

“The government must do far more to stem the rising tide of redundancies. We can’t afford to lose any more good skilled jobs.

“The chancellor should have announced targeted support for the hardest-hit sectors like manufacturing and aviation. Struggling businesses will need more than a one-off job retention bonus to survive and save jobs in the long-term.

“Unions campaigned for a job guarantee scheme. Kickstart is a good first step. But if the government allows vital industries to go the wall, unemployment will surge and the recession will last far longer. 

“The more people we have in decent work, the faster we can work our way out of recession. We must create jobs through more new public investment in new homes, childcare, faster broadband, better transport and green tech.

“The government should have announced extra investment in jobs across all public services – starting with filling the 200,000 vacancies in the NHS and social care. And if the chancellor wants people to have the confidence to eat out, he should have announced a pay rise for hard-pressed key workers rather than dining out discounts for the well-off.”

On sick pay, Frances added: “The government missed an opportunity to strengthen their faltering Test and Trace programme.

“Statutory sick pay is too low for anyone to live on. It’s not viable to ask people to self-isolate if they will be pushed into financial hardship.

“We had hoped ministers would listen, raise the rate and change the rules so low-paid people could afford to do the right thing and comply with self-isolation. Once again, this government fails to understand the real lives of low-paid workers. It is clear that poverty wages and insecure contracts are a public health hazard.”

Green light for Scottish budget

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes has reached an agreement with the Scottish Green Party to ensure the passage of the Scottish Government’s budget.

The final agreement will increased support for young people, police, climate action and local government.

Thanking all who took part in discussions, Ms Forbes said that while she had reached agreement with the Scottish Greens, the budget delivered on key issues raised by all parties in the parliament and called on all MSPs to unite behind the budget today (Thursday).

The agreement which builds on key Scottish Government commitments to invest £15 billion in health and care services, deliver a child poverty payment and to expand early learning and childcare, will:

  • deliver a National Concessionary Travel scheme offering free bus travel for 18s and under. The Scottish Government will undertake work on design and due diligence with a view to introducing such a scheme in January 2021
  • ensure a total uplift for the police service of £60 million in the next financial year with £13 million of additional investment in frontline services and a further £5 million of additional capital investment, on top of the £42 million already committed
  • support local services with £95 million of further funding for local government, taking total additional Scottish Government support for local authorities to £589 million

To further support Scotland’s efforts to end our contribution to climate change a £45 million package of investment in low carbon projects has been agreed including:

  • £25 million of additional investment in local energy efficiency projects
  • £15 million for local authority investment in active travel, taking the total investment in active transport in the next financial year to £100 million
  • £5 million to further develop options for enhanced rail services

As part of the agreement, the Scottish Government has confirmed that the Infrastructure Investment Plan, which will be published later this year, will be aligned with the Infrastructure Commission’s call for all future projects to be compatible with the Scottish Government’s net zero target and the Climate Change Act.

Confirming the agreement, Ms Forbes said: “I am pleased to have reached an agreement to pass the Scottish budget and deliver certainty for communities, businesses and our vital public services – especially in face of the uncertainty created by the UK Government’s decision to delay its budget.

“I want to thank all parties for the constructive way in which they have approached this year’s discussions. While it is not possible to meet every party’s demands in full, I believe in reaching formal agreement with the Green Party, I am also delivering on key asks from every party and I encourage all MSPs to consider giving their support to Scotland’s budget.

“This budget invests a record £15 billion in health and care services, delivers Scotland’s unique child payment to lift our youngest out of poverty, transfers £3 billion of social security spending, supports our efforts to tackle the climate crisis and the creation of a Scottish National Investment Bank.

“The Scottish Government had already backed Police Scotland with a budget increase of £42 million. We will now increase that support to £60 million overall with £50 million of investment for frontline services.

“And we will deliver in full the support Cosla and others have asked for with £95 million for local government.

“We have made significant investments to tackle the climate crisis, with funding for a green deal, low carbon travel and £1.8 billion of low carbon infrastructure.

“To further increase our action to tackle climate change and to support young people across Scotland, we will take steps to introduce a National Concessionary Travel scheme providing free bus travel for Scotland’s 18s and under.

“We will begin the work now to ensure such a scheme is legally compliant and that it meets young people’s needs with the aim of introducing it from January 2021. Alongside the £500 million bus infrastructure fund, this will help deliver a step change in the use of public transport.

“I will also increase funding for walking, cycling and safer streets to £100 million for the first time and boost support for energy efficiency measures as part of our focus on reaching net-zero.

“When I presented the budget I said that every penny had been spent and that remains the case. In the absence of proposals to change spending, this additional investment will be funded through limited amounts of underspend, taking a multi-year approach to issues around non-domestic rates without impacting on local authority revenues, and additional consequentials from the fossil fuel levy. While this increases the financial exposure of the government it ensures that social security payments can be made and public services properly funded.”

The Scottish Greens say free bus travel for young people is a ‘transformational step’ towards tackling the climate emergency.

Young people aged 18 and under are set to get free bus travel in Scotland, thanks to the Scottish Green Party.

The Scottish Government has agreed to work to implement free bus travel for young people in Scotland, in a major win for the Scottish Greens as part of the Scottish budget process.

This means from 2021 young people across Scotland should be able to travel for free on bus routes, in a similar way to the entitlement currently held by over-60s.

The budget deal also puts an additional £95m towards local services across Scotland such as schools and libraries.

Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “Free bus travel for young people is a transformational step towards tackling the climate emergency. This scheme will benefit young people starting college and families, some of whom stand to save thousands of pounds a year, and encourage whole generations of public transport users.

“Buses are the backbone of local public transport and the key to employment and training opportunities for so many of those starting out in life.

“Yet again it’s the Scottish Greens who have engaged constructively in the budget process to deliver for communities in Scotland. 

Clearly, a Green budget would do even more to tackle the climate emergency, but securing this important free bus travel deal for the next generation builds on the powers we won for local councils to take control of local bus services. It is the Scottish Greens who are leading the change.

“And as we have done in every year we have struck a deal, the Greens have prioritised funding for local government, securing an additional £95m for libraries, schools and other local services.”

As part of the deal, Scottish Greens have also secured additional funding for vital low carbon capital projects across Scotland, including commitments to explore reopening the Dunfermline to Alloa rail link and improve the Milngavie rail line, increasing the cycling and walking budget to £100m and £13m for community safety and crime prevention.

Widening free bus travel to those 18 and under is estimated to cost around £60m a year from 2020:  

–    A student travelling from Castle Douglas to study at Dumfries College is set to save around £1,231 per academic year

–    A student travelling from Bathgate to Edinburgh College’s Granton campus is set to save around £1,216 per academic year

–    A student going the Moray campus of the University of the Highlands and Islands from Inverness is set to save around £945 per academic year

–    A family in Edinburgh can save £304 a year on their child going to and from school if they need to take the bus

–    It will save a family of four £22.70 on a trip from Keith to Inverurie Trampoline Park.

Scottish Green MSPs, Alison Johnstone and Andy Wightman, have also hailed the deal struck by the party to deliver free bus travel for young people aged 18 and under as “transformational”.

Alison Johnstone MSP said: “Free bus travel for young people is a transformational step towards tackling the climate emergency. This scheme could save young people and families thousands of pounds a year, and encourage whole generations of public transport users.

“Buses are the backbone of local public transport and the key to employment, training, sports and social opportunities for so many young people.”

The Scottish Greens have also secured an additional £95 million for vital local services, and an additional £13 million for community policing and prevention work.

Andy Wightman MSP added: “Since the 2016 election the Scottish Greens have pushed the Scottish Government to provide councils with a fairer share of funding.

“I’m delighted that this year Greens have been able to deliver over £7.4 million more for Edinburgh, £1.5 million more for Midlothian, £1.8 million more for East Lothian, and £3.2 million more for West Lothian, to help protect vital local services like community centres, and speed up the delivery of much-needed new schools.

While the Greens hail their contribution to tackling climate change, the local government umbrella body COSLA says the budget will do NOTHING to tackle the environmental emergency. 

The Scottish Government’s 2045 Climate Change Targets will not be met as local authorities will be forced to use ageing, high-emission vehicles on a daily basis, councils have warned.

The Scottish Government draft budget falls far short of what COSLA considers a fair settlement for Local Government.  It results in a £95m (£300m real terms) cut to revenue and £117m (£130m real terms) cut to capital budgets. The impact of these cuts will continue to be felt.

COSLA Environment and Economy Spokesperson Councillor Steven Heddle said: “This budget in no way recognises that we are facing a climate emergency nor the role of Local Government in addressing the challenges.

“The risks are clear. This is a budget which heavily impedes our ability to help Scotland meet these targets. If the Government are serious about addressing climate change then protecting services such as school and community transport, waste collection, gritting, and roads maintenance should be top of their agenda.

“Cuts to council budgets means cuts to public transport – forcing more people to travel by car and an end to critical investment in active travel.

“To truly tackle the climate emergency, we need to provide services in a different way, Local Government is eager to be a leader in the fight to tackle climate change, but resources are needed.

“Instead of additional resource to allow investment in emission-reducing infrastructure, energy efficiency measures and digital services delivery, we have seen a cut to the Local Government budget. This must be addressed if we are serious about tackling climate change.

“We are calling on the Government and the Parliament to address these concerns, listen to our asks and allow investment in essential council services which can make a real difference in the fight against climate change.

Edinbirgh SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald has welcomed an agreement to pass the Scottish Government that will see the capital receive an additional £7.43 million in the next year.

Police will benefit from a total uplift of £60 million in the next financial year, with £13m of additional investment in frontline services and a further £5m of additional capital investment, on top of the £42m already committed.

SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Gordon MacDonald, said: “This budget invests a record £15bn in health and care services, delivers Scotland’s unique child payment to lift our youngest out of poverty and supports Scotland’s world-leading efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

“The Scottish Government had already backed Police Scotland with a budget increase of £42m.  That will now increase that support to £60m overall with £50m of investment for frontline services.

“Edinburgh will benefit from our share of an extra £95m for local government – with an extra £7.43 millon of investment.

“We have made significant investments to tackle the climate crisis, with funding for a green deal, low carbon travel and £1.8bn of low emission infrastructure.

“The introduction of free bus travel for those aged 18 and under will make an enormous difference to young people – and alongside the £500 million bus infrastructure fund will help deliver a step change in the use of public transport.

“This budget is a good deal for Edinburgh and a good deal for Scotland – and I’m delighted it is now set to receive the support of the Scottish Parliament.”

 

Enough is enough!

Councillors will meet tomorrow to discuss six steps for boosting sustainability, tackling poverty and improving residents’ wellbeing over the course of the next decade. The meeting comes a week before the city council sets it’s budget – a budget which UNISON says will slash council services with another £33 million in CUTS in the year ahead.

Designed to secure Edinburgh’s spending priorities, in the context of increasingly challenging financial circumstances, the six programmes of work are contained within a report detailing the next phase of the Council’s Change Strategy.

Members of the Finance and Resources Committee will consider the suggestions alongside detailed proposals for agreeing the city’s annual budget next week (20 February) and planned savings of £87.3m over the next three years.

One year into a four-year plan, the Change Strategy has already achieved savings of over £30m for the Council, while delivering improvements to frontline services across the city and major investment towards health and social care, the building of new schools and thousands of affordable homes.

Since last year’s budget, the Council has made significant progress against its target to deliver 10,000 new affordable homes by 2022, with 2,000 homes currently under construction across 35 sites.

A £153m improvement is making upgrades to nearly 600 buildings, with £67m spent building new or refurbishing schools, while an additional £15.7m has been put towards health and social care.

The start of the tram to Newhaven extension is underway – we’ll have to wait and see what the final cost of that particular project will be – and more than £7.4m has been invested into active travel and cycling around the city, alongside an £11m street lighting upgrade to LED.

The next phase of the council strategy builds on this work, identifying six programmes with practical steps for continuing to achieve Edinburgh’s spending priorities in this year’s Council budget and beyond.

The six programmes are:

  • Prioritising poverty and wellbeing

Developing a long-term Prevention Strategy based on the results of the Edinburgh Poverty Commission and the findings of the Homelessness Taskforce, and redesigning Council services which maximise residents’ wellbeing.

  • Working to reach net zero carbon

Co-sponsoring the establishment of the Edinburgh Commission for Climate Action – an independent body that will advise and support the whole city to play its part in protecting our environment for future generations – and building on the city’s Net Zero short-term improvement plan with a City Sustainability Strategy.

  • Building an inclusive city

Finalising and actioning a new City Plan and City Centre Transformation strategy to guide the future shape of the city and fulfilling the ambitions of Edinburgh’s 10-year City Mobility plan to change the way that people move around the city.

  • Operating a 21st Century estate

Launching a new Land and Property Commission to better identify sites for new housing, release depots and yards for redevelopment and capital for investment, reduce costs and carbon emissions – complemented by a new Estate Strategy examining all aspects of how the Council runs and maintains buildings and land.

  • Being an efficient and modern Council

Paying the baseline Living Wage to all employees, working to close the gender pay gap and improve diversity, and breaking down stigma associated with mental health conditions. We will also be reviewing senior management structures and costs.

  • Empowering citizens and empowering colleagues

By introducing new standards for consultation and co-designing services across the Council and fulfilling our commitment of 1% of council budgets being invested through participatory budgeting by 2021.

Council Leader Adam McVey said: “We need to think big and be bold to become the type of city people have told us they want to live and work in – an inclusive, sustainable and progressive city which prioritises frontline services and its most vulnerable citizens, puts an end to poverty and acts now against climate change – and we shouldn’t be afraid to make challenging decisions in order to get there.

“That’s why we’re changing the way we do things, committing to a longer term, three-year budget plan, paving the way for record capital investment in areas like new schools, new affordable new homes and sustainable transport. The six steps outlined in this report will make sure we remain focused on our key aims while providing the best services possible for the people of Edinburgh.”

The SNP can’t run the city on their own, of course, and they are supported by Labour in a ‘Capital Coalition’ which has been coming in for increasing criticism.

Capital Coalition Depute Leader, Labour’s Cllr Cammy Day, said: “Like all Councils, we’re facing unprecedented levels of financial uncertainty and we’ll need to make tough choices in order to prioritise the big changes Edinburgh wants and needs.

“The six areas have been shaped by many years of feedback, through our budget consultations with tens of thousands of Edinburgh residents. This is about focusing on frontline services which lift people out of poverty and support Edinburgh’s ambitious sustainability goals.

“Most councils will currently be considering how to set a one-year budget. We’re going further by looking at how we will balance our budgets over the next three years. We’ll do this while also continuing to push for the powers we need to introduce innovative new funding mechanisms for Edinburgh, such as the tourist tax and workplace parking levy.”

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Local government trade union UNISON is urging it’s members and the general public to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and stand up for our local jobs and services.

The union is holding a Council Budget Day Lobby from 08.30 – 10:00 at the City Chambers on the High Street

  • Stress levels at breakdown point
  • Further £33m in cuts.
  • Health & Social Care Funding Crisis
  • Hundreds of jobs to go
  • Outsourcing back