GREENS MSP Maggie Chapman argued that Scottish independence will allow the Scottish Government to give pay rises to public sector workers on Thursday’s Debate Night.
Chapman stated that while she wanted to give public sector workers across Scotland an above inflation pay rise as “pay rises haven’t kept pace with inflation for decades”, the Scottish Parliament has a restricted budget due to powers reserved to Westminster.
She said: “Our problem at the moment is that we’ve got choices to make. We can deal with the cost-of-living crisis that is facing many of us right now. One of the ways of doing that is making sure that the people who need it most have money in their pockets.
“I’m proud of the fact that with Greens working with the Scottish Government we’ve been able to mitigate the worst benefit cuts that we’ve seen the UK Government impose."
She continued by citing £1000 a year “taken out of the pockets of people” by the UK Government through cuts made to Universal Credit.
“This is precisely why it is the time for an independence referendum. It’s not about independence being an end in itself. Independence gives us the powers of a normal country. Full tax-raising powers, powers to borrow money to pay for public services.”
When interrupted by Tory MSP Craig Hoy who asked: “You don’t even believe in economic growth?”, Chapman firmly replied: “I want everyone to have a decent life to live.”
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently revealed that regular wages excluding bonuses plunged by 4.5% in April when taking Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation into account – the biggest fall since records began in January 2001.
It comes as inflation has jumped to a 40-year high of 9% due to soaring energy and fuel bills amid the impact of the Ukraine war, and as economies emerge from the pandemic.
Union leaders in Scotland representing 160,000 workers across NHS Scotland have recently stated that Scottish ministers need to “go further on pay for these key workers” after their members were offered a 5% raise.
Jaki Lambert, director for Scotland for the Royal College of Midwives, said: “The Government’s pay offer for our members is simply not good enough. It’s nowhere near what midwives and maternity staff deserve or need right now.
“Our members are struggling with the rising cost of living and 5% is not enough to counteract the increases in inflation. If they accept this offer, they will not see any real-terms improvement in their pay from last year.”
She continued: “We called on the Scottish Government for an inflation-proof pay rise, so this offer will not cut it.”
