Time for Scottish politics to get honest

Now is the time to use our powers to invest in the future prosperity of Scotland. We cannot afford to cut education.

All across Scotland jobs and services are on the line because of the decisions John Swinney is making in the Scottish budget.

His plan to cut hundreds of millions from local services will cost thousands of jobs and it will harm the public services we all rely on.

These cuts are incredibly short sighted and are counterproductive for the long term economic wellbeing of our country.

Thanks to the work done by Kezia Dugdale to force it up the agenda every party leader in Scotland is talking about the gap in educational achievement between the children of the richest and the rest of society.

The First Minister even called education her number one priority.

There is a moral and economic reason for closing the attainment gap.

It is morally wrong that 6,000 children leave primary school in Scotland unable to read properly, and that children from richer families are twice as likely to go to university as those from poorer homes.

We have to change this to build a fairer Scotland, but we also need to change this to give our young people the skills they need to grasp the jobs of the future in the industries of tomorrow.

Against that background, cutting education budgets to the bone is simply wrong. You can’t cut the gap between the richest and the rest by cutting the schools budget.

The SNP tactic in Government has been to claim that their hands are tied by the Tories After nearly a decade in government, and with a majority in parliament, that excuse has grown thin. They have a choice.

Given the choice between using our powers or making cuts to our children’s future, our nation’s future, Scottish Labour would choose to use our powers.

We would set the Scottish rate of income tax at 11p, one pence higher than George Osborne.

That would deliver close to half a billion in public funding to stop these brutal cuts.

Labour’s plan would mean people earning less than £20,000 a year won’t pay a single penny more, and low paid taxpayers will actually benefit with a £100 annual rebate.

For too long now political parties haven’t been honest about how they would pay for their promises. In 2007 the SNP promised to halve classroom sizes with no clue how to pay for it. Today they are proposing an expansion in childcare which would cost close to £1 billion whilst simultaneously cutting the budget for local government. They have no idea where this money is coming from.

Scottish Labour is being upfront with the people of Scotland. We would stop these cuts, invest in our children’s schools and the future of our country and we’re making clear how we will pay for it.

Real financial responsibility has arrived in Scotland. It’s no longer good enough to point the finger of blame at someone else when we can make a choice.

Scottish Labour chooses to use the powers of the Scottish Parliament to stop these cuts, and protect our country’s future.

Jackie Baillie is Scottish Labour Spokesperson for Public Services and Wealth Creation