THERE is a “growing, dangerous gap” between SNP party policy and the Scottish Government, the party’s largest affiliate body has warned.
Speaking to The National, the national secretary of the SNP Trade Union Group – which has around one in six of the party’s members on its roll – said that John Swinney’s administration was falling “desperately short of the radical reform required” to tackle the issues facing Scotland.
It comes after Swinney published his Programme for Government, which outlined the SNP’s proposals for governing over the next five years.
Key plans included a price cap on certain supermarket essentials, a £2 bus fare cap across the country, and a remodelling of the state – including NHS health boards, Scottish Government agencies, and local councils.
Simon Barrow, the national secretary of the SNP Trade Union Group, said the group would “commend the genuine progress delivered by the Scottish Government” and said that a “more progressive income tax structure, the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment, the rejection of Westminster’s anti-trade union laws, and bringing ScotRail into public ownership demonstrate the tangible benefits of social partnership”.
However, he went on: “We cannot ignore the growing, dangerous gap between adopted SNP policy and what the Scottish Government is currently delivering.
“While party conference delegates overwhelmingly endorse progressive tax measures and publicly owned energy, government strategy too often falls back on administrative caution, public sector headcount reductions, and under-resourced local authorities.
“Simply pointing to Westminster austerity or relying on short-term mitigations is no longer enough. Tinkering around the edges of a broken system – such as introducing minor property surcharges while preserving obsolete 1991 property valuations – falls desperately short of the radical reform required.”
The SNP has been pledging to replace council tax – which is based on assumed property valuations in April 1991 – since before Alex Salmond first took office in 2007.
The latest Programme for Government included a pledge to introduce a “mansion tax” – new council tax bands for million-pound houses – but did address replacing entire the system.
Asked about council tax by the BBC on Sunday, Swinney said he was “hopeful” that political parties could work together in the next five years “to try to find common ground so that we can undertake reform”.
Barrow said: “To protect our communities and properly resource our public services, the Scottish Government must show ambition, not apathy.
“It is time to fully embrace the STUC’s Raising Tax to Deliver for Scotland proposals. By implementing a Proportional Property Tax to scrap the unfair Council Tax, introducing targeted local wealth taxes, restructuring higher income tax bands, and ending wasteful private-sector outsourcing, ministers could unlock over £3.7 billion annually.
“This revenue would protect vital workforce roles, fund above-inflation public sector pay, and deliver the infrastructure needed for a genuine Just Transition.”
He added: “The Scottish Government was elected on a promise to build a fairer, more equal nation. To retain the trust of working-class communities and lead Scotland toward a better future, ministers must be bold. The announced Programme for Government falls short of this in a number of serious ways.
“It is time to align government policy directly with party conference decisions, work side-by-side with the trade unions, and use our full devolved powers to invest in our people, our workers, and our public services.”
On Friday, Bill Ramsay, the Trade Union Group’s convenor and a member of the SNP National Executive Committee, hit out at the SNP Government’s refusal to institute a moratorium on new data centre applications.
He accused SNP ministers of being “undemocratic” in refusing to align with a policy which the party backed at national council in July.
The SNP has been approached for comment.
