Wednesday 17 November 2010

Swinney fudge ...

Today's Scottish Budget was a typical John Swinney fudge.    It is lighter on detail than it should have been and it is disappointing that John Swinney wouldn’t give the figures for more than one year.   You might have concluded that John Swinney does not expect to be Finance Cabinet Secretary this time next year.  You would be right.

The one year only budget is a dangerous way for every school, hospital and college in Dundee and elsewhere in Scotland to try and plan ahead.     Hard working staff have no way of knowing what to expect from the SNP.    They can’t take sensible decisions if they don’t have the future plans.

On the day when unemployment is going up in Dundee and across Scotland but down in the rest of the UK, the SNP is wrong to cut support for enterprise, colleges and tourism, but failed to cut high pay, bonuses and waste.  Under the SNP the highest paid staff in the NHS still keep £26 million of bonuses.
 
Another wasted opportunity.