Scrap ID cards & Trident - Labour MP

Joe FitzPatrick MSP, a member of the Scottish Parliament's Finance Committee, has welcomed comments made by former cabinet minister Stephen Byers – a prominent Blairite Labour MP – who has called on Gordon Brown to scrap ID cards and the replacement of the Trident missile programme because of the recession.

The comments already reflect those of the First Minister and the SNP Government who believe that cancelling projects such as Trident and ID cards should be looked at to protect front line services in health and education instead of the £500 million across-the-board cuts proposed by the Treasury.

Commenting Mr FitzPatrick said:

“These comments highlight the threat that cutting spending on front line services will have and the alternatives open to Alistair Darling.

“Instead of threatening frontline public services the UK government should be doing as Stephen Byers suggests and look at the waste that will be spent on Trident and ID cards.

“This is an embarrassment for Iain Gray and Labour in Scotland. For a Blairite ex-minister to be making these calls whilst they support continue to defend cuts shows how little credibility they have.

“Slashing frontline public spending in the teeth of recession will only add to the anxiety of households and high streets.

“Labour in Scotland are now in the embarrassing position of defending Tory-style cuts whilst supporting billions being wasted on weapons of mass destruction and big brother style ID cards.”

Notes

The reports on Stephen Byers’ remarks can be read here.

“…Stephen Byers, a former cabinet minister, called on Brown to scrap ID cards and the replacement of the Trident missile programme because of the recession, warning that it would be a "fraud on the electorate" if all the parties were not open about cutbacks needed to balance Britain's books.

“His words reflect a growing divide in cabinet over whether ministers should now admit that specific major programmes will have to be axed after the election, with the business secretary, Peter Mandelson, pushing for what would be a major change of strategy and Brown resisting.

“Byers has long supported both identity cards and the nuclear deterrent but said he could not justify to vulnerable constituents the respective £5bn and £70bn bills when basic public services were threatened by the economic crisis. “