The weekend Gray turned Red

Labour's lurch to the left continued at the Scottish Party's conference in Oban this weekend.

Derek Brownlee MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance & Sustainable Growth, said:

"Scottish Labour's pre-conference publications are little more than a giant advert for the unions that bankroll the party. Many would expect an apology for the biggest debt in peacetime history, or at least a plan for getting us out of their mess. But the only big idea seems to be higher council tax for every Scottish taxpayer. It is clear that Labour's lurch to the left under Ed Miliband and Iain Gray has already begun. This is the weekend when Gray turned Red.

"Labour has no costed proposals, just an unrealistic shopping list designed to appease their union masters. For Iain Gray, the man who would be First Minister, to be totally silent on what he would do to deal with the massive debt and deficit legacy which Labour left Scotland, is dishonest and cowardly.

"The right action is needed to help Scotland weather the storm of Labour's economic mismanagement. We must protect vital services and the most vulnerable, but the fact is we are going to have to face up to some tough decision-making to get our country back on its feet. Ignoring the problem and pretending all is rosy is not optimistic. Optimism without reality is just fantasy.

"Scotland is not safe in Labour's hands. Scots are recognising that, north and south of the border, we are prepared to tackle the dire legacy of debt and deficit left by Labour, in order to secure the recovery. Unlike Iain Gray and Alex Salmond, we have not been carping from the sidelines. We are the only Party with ideas for reform and renewal of our public services and the only opposition party determined to continue the Council Tax freeze.

"We have tackled the challenges Scotland faces head on, by finding three quarters of a billion pounds in savings, all of which will protect frontline services and jobs. The Scottish Conservatives are speaking for more and more of Scotland. We shall, in all we do, work for Scotland."




The Scottish Conservatives have so far proposed the following savings:


A recruitment freeze, except for essential posts: cutting the recruitment rate by 3% could save £450m


Taking Scottish Water out of State control, e.g. mutualising: £140m


Keeping prescription charges for those who currently pay: £37m


Cutting absenteeism by 2% £138m


Total (so far) £765 million every year

In addition, Scottish Conservatives have outlined proposals for a graduate contribution to further and higher education and proposals to integrate social care into the NHS budget. We are working on a raft of public sector reform proposals.

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