BARBER RIGHT ON CUTS WARNING

BARBER RIGHT ON CUTS WARNING

NOTHING ‘WISE’ ABOUT SPENDING ON TRIDENT AND ID CARDS

SNP calls for the UK Government to focus spending cuts on Trident and ID cards have been echoed by TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber – who warned that plans to spend billions of pounds on such projects was “wrong, wrong, wrong”.

As the Business Secretary Lord Mandelson attempts to spin the Labour Government’s spending strategy as ‘wise spenders, not big spenders’, Mr Barber also cautioned that it was “only when vital public services are safe from cuts that we will be able to talk about a real recovery.”

SNP Treasury spokesperson Stewart Hosie MP said:

“Brendan Barber is right, right, right to expose the incoherence of Labour plans to throw away billions on Trident and ID cards while cutting essential public services in the teeth of recession.

“It is just not credible for Labour to try and spin themselves as ‘wise spenders’ while simultaneously wasting £25 billion on a nuclear missile system we do not need and the vast majority do not want.

“The UK Government must focus its cuts on these unnecessary and unaffordable white elephant projects – and rule-out slashing front-line services like health and education, and capital investment which are essential for recovery.

“The SNP have long argued for the UK Government to abandon its foolhardy plans to replace the Trident nuclear system, saving up to £100 billion over its lifetime. And we are also calling on Labour to completely drop their proposals to spend billions on unwanted and unnecessary ID cards.

“The UK Government’s catastrophic financial failure totally underlines the need for Scotland to have responsibility to run our own affairs – with the ability to take the decisions needed to reflate our economy, contribute to recovery, and overcome the Downing Street downturn.”