Jeremy Corbyn in Scotland: what he won’t mention

by Liam Furby
Posted on
6 years ago
2 min read

Jeremy Corbyn is in Scotland this week. The Labour Leader is keen to promote his party’s policies but not so keen to talk about Labour’s record in government.

Here are a few things Jeremy Corbyn won’t be talking about in Scotland.

Labour’s Brexit policy risks jobs

Jeremy Corbyn has pledged a ‘jobs first’ Brexit but it’s not entirely clear what Labour’s Brexit policy actually is. We do know that they want to take the UK out the Single Market, a policy that would put 80,000 jobs in Scotland at risk within a decade.

In Wales, Labour has chosen not to mitigate the Bedroom Tax

The SNP Scottish Government is spending £115 million this year mitigating the worst impacts of Tory welfare cuts. And while no one in Scotland now pays the Bedroom Tax, the cruel cut remains in place in Labour-run Wales.

Labour supports the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapon system

Labour’s General Election manifesto this year backed the renewal of Trident. In 2016 most Labour MPs backed a Tory motion to proceed a new generation of nuclear weapons on the Clyde.

Labour promise public-sector railways but do nothing to deliver them

In Welsh Labour’s 2016 manifesto, they said that they “…will deliver a new, not-for-profit, rail franchise from 2018…” Yet this year Labour awarded a new 15-year franchise to a private operator.

In Scotland, the SNP Scottish Government secured new powers over our railways and is progressing plans to ensure a public-sector bid for future rail franchises.

Labour continues to impose tuition fees on students in Wales

Despite a 2017 General Election promise to scrap university tuition fees, the Labour government continues to impose maximum tuition fees of £9,000 per year. Last year the Welsh Government u-turned on proposals to increase tuition fees to £9,295 – a level higher than in England.

In Scotland, the SNP scrapped Labour’s back-door tuition fees in 2008.