Labour can run but not hide on their Tory cuts agenda

Ahead of the BBC Scotland Leader’s Debate SNP leader John Swinney said that Tory public spending cuts agenda adopted by Labour is a fundamental issue in this election.

Mr Swinney described Labour as ‘evasive’ for avoiding for refusing to outline where the axe would fall under their plans which would mean £18 billion worth of cuts to public services according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

The institute has accused both Labour and the Tories of a ‘conspiracy of silence’ over their planned tax and spending plans in government.

With Labour pledged to follow the Tories’ borrowing rules, and copy their tax plans by not raising taxes, the only option they would have is to cut public spending.

Labour’s lack of honesty about cuts was starkly exhibited by their justice spokesperson Emily Thornberry of Times Radio where she refused to say what public service cuts they would be make and ended up saying “I don’t know what else I’m supposed to say.”

In recent weeks, both parties have dismissed experts’ analysis who have warned about the harsh reality of their plans.

Not only has the IFS warned about cuts but the Resolution Foundation have stated that to stay inside the Tory fiscal rules Labour has adopted, the next Westminster government will have to deal with a £33 billion fiscal black hole.

And the Institute for Government (IfG)’s Chief Economist has warned “the tax pledges seriously undermine the credibility of their public service aspirations: the parties are presumably hoping the electorate will not notice.”

A further IfG report said “current spending plans are implausible” and “assume further cuts to a criminal justice system that is on its knees, minimal change in schools or local government, and only small increases in a health service which has suffered a decade of insufficient funding.”

Every credible voice is clear that the plans of the two main Westminster parties mean significant spending cuts are coming under their economic plans.

Keir Starmer’s Labour and the Tories are debating people’s economic future in a parallel universe by refusing to accept the reality of their decisions.

It is well past time for them to come back to the real world and come clean to the electorate about the impact these cuts will have on our communities.

Westminster has caused misery for people in Scotland with years of austerity and the disaster of Brexit wrecking the UK economy.

It is therefore astounding that Labour agree with the Tories on every serious issue that is impacting people in Scotland right now – whether its austerity, Brexit, or the cost of living crisis causing hardship across our communities.

Whether it is Keir Starmer or Rishi Sunak in Downing Street, it’s now clear the agenda for the coming years is more of the same when it comes to public finances. However, these tax and spending decisions are a choice – nothing here is inevitable.

The fact is that Scotland can’t afford another decade of Westminster cuts.

It is dishonest not to tell voters what Labour’s plans will mean for people and they should be straight with people.

But people in Scotland can choose an alternative, a party which invests in our NHS, schools, hospitals, and housing.

On 4th July, vote SNP to oppose Westminster cuts, put Scotland’s interests first and ensure decisions are made in Scotland, for Scotland with Independence.