NICOLA Sturgeon says her party has a plan to “bring our local communities together” while “Tories are distracted with the scandal of partygate”.
The First Minister will bring focus to SNP proposals for Scotland’s communities during a local election campaign visit to a community hub in Glasgow today.
Ahead of the visit, Sturgeon highlighted the part that local government can play in providing support during the cost-of-living crisis.
The SNP leader said: “While the Tories are distracted with the scandal of partygate at Downing Street, the SNP has a plan to bring our local communities together and demand real action on the cost of living crisis.
“Local government serves a key role to support local communities during this Tory-made crisis – and the SNP is absolutely committed to easing the squeeze on the most vulnerable as household bills skyrocket.
“We know that we achieve more when communities come together, as they did during the pandemic. Bringing neighbourhoods together, making more land available for community gardens and increasing access to sporting and leisure activities are all part of that vision.”
To do this, the party says it intends on making more land available for community market gardens, orchards and allotments and will provide support to community food initiatives in a bid to make Scotland a Good Food Nation. An increased access to sporting, leisure and cultural opportunities will be made available, especially, the SNP says, for children and young people from low-income backgrounds.
The party also intends on renewing all play parks in the country, and will work to deliver on the “20 minute neighbourhood” initiative, which will aim to ensure people will be able to meet their daily exercise needs within a 20-minute walk of their home.
A spokesman for the Scottish Tories said: “Nicola Sturgeon has spent more than a decade dividing Scotland’s communities with her bitter, toxic nationalism.
“And the SNP have slashed council budgets to the bone, wrecking communities across the country.
“If Nicola Sturgeon wants to help communities in Glasgow, she could start with tackling the drug death crisis that her Government created.”
Meanwhile, the SNP has criticised Glasgow Labour leader Malcolm Cunning for his “weak” apology over his party’s role in the long-running equal pay scandal.
Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken has warned that the final cost of Labour’s Equal Pay for Women Bill could run into billions of pounds, and that the cost of settlements for women discriminated against would remove £30 million per year for the next 30 years from the city’s budget. Subsequent phases of payments are due to begin later this year.
The row follows an ongoing equal pay dispute involving female city council employees that goes back to a 2017 Court of Session decision, ruling that both the council’s payment protection scheme and its Workforce Pay and Benefits Review discriminated against women workers.
Aitken has challenged both Cunning and Labour leader Anas Sarwar to detail how their party would pay the discrimination bill.
Aitken said: “An admission of responsibility by Labour in Glasgow is long overdue, but this hollow apology days before an election will not cut it.
“The final bill for repaying the debt of Glasgow Labour’s equal pay scandal will be well in excess of £1 billion – the single biggest cut Glasgow has faced for decades.
“The SNP’s action to resolve this injustice is the right and proper thing to do – but we are all paying for Labour’s shameful legacy in Glasgow.”
She added: “Prior to the 2017 election, Labour said delivering equal pay wasn’t doable. However, right up until the decision was formally taken to stop legal action by the council, senior Labour people continued to defend their discriminatory pay system in the courts – including in the Labour group leader’s own party branch.
“Instead of weak and thoughtless apologies from Cunning, he, alongside his party leader, should explain how they would pay this huge debt whilst protecting and delivering the key services Glaswegians expect.”
