LABOUR’S THATCHERITE CUTS THREATEN SCOTLAND

LABOUR’S THATCHERITE CUTS THREATEN SCOTLAND

GREY TO BROWN: SHADES OF LABOUR DECEIT

The SNP Leader at Westminster, Angus Robertson MP, has hit out at the Labour party’s litany of deceit, following a succession of misleading claims and distorted speeches at the party’s conference in Glasgow.

Commenting, Mr Robertson said:

“Nobody believes Labour’s empty promises now that Alistair Darling has admitted Labour’s cuts in public spending will be ‘tougher and deeper’ than anything seen under Margaret Thatcher. It is Labour that is going to return Scotland to the dark days of the Thatcher era.

“The Chancellor’s budget confirmed that the Labour Government at Westminster has cut Scotland’s budget by £400 million – which comes at the expense of 4,000 jobs in Scotland. This is the first real terms cut in Scotland’s budget since devolution and jeopardises Scotland’s fragile economic recovery.

“While Gordon Brown and Labour attack the Tories at Westminster for wanting to cut public spending now, that is exactly what Labour are imposing on Scotland. Alistair Darling himself says to cut spending now would be ‘counter-productive’ and ‘choke off economic recovery’, yet that is precisely Scotland’s fate at the hands of the UK Labour Government.

“Astonishingly, Labour remain in denial over their disastrous economic mismanagement which has taken the UK to the brink of bankruptcy and led to the highest level of UK debt ever.

“Labour are deliberately misleading the people of Scotland by plucking fantasy job creation figures from thin air. They have presided over 13 years of economic illiteracy on an unprecedented scale and stood idly by as the gap between the rich and poor continues to grow. New Labour’s 13 years in power has certainly been unlucky for far too many Scots.

“Instead of cutting spending on public services, cuts should be found elsewhere: let’s end the absurd and disgraceful Tory and Labour plans to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system at the cost of 100 billion pounds, and scrap five billion pounds on the remnants of ID cards.

“Jim Murphy, Iain Gray and Gordon Brown are deceiving the people of Scotland because it doesn’t matter if they are Labour or Tory cuts, it is Scotland’s people who will suffer and our economy which will be jeopardised. Labour or Tory - Tweedledum or Tweedledee - both parties plan deep and damaging cuts for Scotland.

“This underlines why the Scottish Parliament needs to have responsibility for spending and raising taxes, which would allow us to take the decisions that are crucial to supporting Scotland’s economy.

“The Scottish public will not have the wool pulled over its eyes. What we need is a strong block of SNP MPs at Westminster, a block of local champions, to stand strong against the Thatcher-style cuts planned by Tory and Labour.”