THE SNP have branded Anas Sarwar’s promise of a £150 million boost for state schools as “another attack on devolution”.
The Scottish Labour leader told The Daily Record on Tuesday that the funding will come from Keir Starmer’s plan to charge VAT on private school fees and will go towards new teachers and free breakfasts for pupils.
It is unclear, however, how that money would be allocated and whether it would form part of the Barnett formula.
The Scottish Government's funds are mostly set by the UK Government through the block grant – the size of which is determined by the Barnett formula. However, it is up to the Edinburgh government how those funds are allocated.
The SNP have hit out at Sarwar’s promise, saying Labour knows “full well” that education is devolved to Scotland.
The policy promise comes after Keir Starmer’s Labour U-turned on a policy promise to offer free school meals in the rest of the UK last year.
In Scotland, meanwhile, primary school pupils between primary one to five have access to free school meals, with the Scottish Government committing to extend the policy up to primary seven.
SNP candidate for Glasgow West Carol Monaghan (below) said it was “yet another attack on devolution from branch manager Anas Sarwar”.
She added that Sarwar is “desperately trying to cling to control as he pulls pledges out of thin air – with no real detail on what this would mean for Scotland’s schools”.
"No one forgets that this is the same Anas Sarwar who is part of a UK Labour Party who have signed up to £18 billion of Westminster austerity cuts,” she said.
“The Labour Party knows fine well that education is devolved to the Scottish Government, so that decisions made that impact Scottish schools, teachers and pupils can be made by the people that know them best – not by Westminster.
“Instead of letting our hard-won devolved administrations be micromanaged by a Westminster government who do not have Scotland’s interests at heart, on July 4 we can ensure the future of Scottish education is decided in Scotland, for Scotland, with a vote for the SNP.”
