Budget for jobs

It has been a dramatic week at the Scottish Parliament with the government’s budget failing to get enough votes to pass through.

It’s the first time this has happened in Holyrood’s 10-year history and with £33 billion at stake for our hospitals and schools, the public will be rightly asking themselves what is going on.

The truth is, it comes down to priorities and this time the political parties could not agree a compromise on how much should be given to each of the demands.

We are always hearing that all politicians are the same and there is no diversity between the parties but in reality there are very clear differences and this has never been more evident than this week.

Some are calling for tax cuts, others more money for town centres, another group want more funds for home insulations and the Scottish Government are charged with the task of balancing those demands; something they failed to do last week.

It is my belief, and that of my party, that we should be using our budget in these tough economic times by helping people facing redundancy.

After our experiences in the eighties and nineties, Inverclyde knows all too well the toll that recession and unemployment can have on our communities – it is still visible today.

I believe it is essential that measures are put in place to help those people facing unemployment to get the skills to take on other jobs, enabling workers to provide for their families and give our young people a real prospect of an apprenticeship.

While the events of the last week have made for great political theatre, there are serious consequences if the Parliament can work out the best deal for the people of Scotland.

So I won’t be casting my vote in favour of the budget until I am confident it will deliver what is right for Inverclyde and for Scotland.