Tuesday 5 April 2011

Solutions for Scotland

This morning, Scottish Liberal Democrats are launching the party's manifesto for the Scottish Parliamentary Elections.  

Solutions for Scotland is the 2011 manifesto of the Scottish Liberal Democrats :

"We are clear about the challenges. We are clear about the solutions for Scotland. 
Our manifesto sets out the details of our action plans. 
People will see that we are serious, determined and practical.

A ten year vision for Scotland
People know that there is only so much that any new government will be able to do, even in a five year term. We show how we would use the resources we have to start work straightaway. But we also show how we will start the planning and development of new ideas for the future.

Our aim is a strong economic future, excellence in education and a free and liberal society where people have control over their own lives and their local services.

There are around 600,000 children under 10 years old in Scotland today. By the end of the decade they will form a core part of our economy, society and community. And if we want our ambitions to be realised for them, the improvements we must make, must start now. 

•         To be the most innovative and entrepreneurial economy in the world;
•         Scotland to be a more sustainable economy and society;
•         Scotland to have the most connected digital economy in Europe;
•         Scottish school children to be the among the best achieving in the world with children from the most deprived background reaching double the current levels of attainment;
•         Scotland to have one of the most open, free and safe societies.

To make this happen we propose to make one big change.  

Today, we will announce plans that give the new Scottish Government a one-off windfall of at least £1.5 billion. With that money Liberal Democrats will take the steps to transform the prospects of our country for the decades ahead.

•         We will give Scottish universities access to a £250m Science Nation Fund to allow them to keep pace with investment at universities in the rest of the UK and around the world.
•         We can invest in a Digital Economy, with a super-fast broadband plan for the whole of Scotland that could be worth 20,000 new jobs.
•         We can create an Early Intervention Revolution that will transform the lives of children, bring long term benefits to them and long term savings to the country.
•         We will be able to invest in our biggest ever programme of energy saving in homes, businesses and government that will cut our bills today and protect us from rising energy prices in the future.
•         We will be able to get our dynamic regional development banks off to a strong start with half a billion pounds available to support local business grow.

It’s a one off. It’s a huge opportunity. It needs to be invested wisely."