Renfrewshire Liberal Democrats respond to “disastrous” SNP budget
Renfrewshire Liberal Democrat campaigner, Jack Clark, has today branded the Scottish Government’s Budget for the coming year as “disastrous”, following a combination of tax hikes and budget cuts that will harm families and communities throughout the area.
The SNP/Green Budget contains deep cuts to essential areas including:
- £189m cut from building new warm and energy efficient homes
- A real-terms cut to mental health provision
- £80m cut from the rail budget, coinciding with the announcement fares will rise 8.7%
- £63m cut from the Future Transport Fund
- A 76% cut to the Just Transition Fund despite the climate emergency
- £62.9m less for enterprise, trade and investment
- £107m cut from colleges and universities
Jack Clark commented:
“The SNP have spent years ignoring expert warnings about the lack of a long-term economic strategy and the impact of its failure to grow the economy.
“We now know, from this disastrous budget, who is going to pay the price in Renfrewshire, and it won’t be those with the broadest shoulders.
"Harsh cuts to the housing budget during a housing crisis will do nothing to tackle homelessness in Renfrewshire, while cutting over £100mn from colleges and universities will have a huge impact on places like Paisley. This will affect everything from roads, to schools, to meeting our climate targets.
"Scottish Liberal Democrats will stand up for a growing and thriving Scottish economy which generates the tax revenue we need to invest in tackling the climate emergency, lifting up Scottish education, rescuing the NHS and building more warmer homes."