Alex Salmond declares war on Scotland's scourges

Published on Thursday 26 May 2011 18:25

ALEX Salmond has called time on Scotland's twin scourges of "bigotry and booze" in his programme for government.

In his opening statement to the Scottish Parliament, following his relection at the beginning of the month, Mr Salmond said early legislation would address sectarianism and Scotland's alcohol problem.

The economy and the reform of public services are the other top priorities of the new Scottish Government., the First Minister said.

He added his aim in government would be to foster a "fair society" on the back of commitments to deliver free university education, free care for the elderly and a council tax freeze.

But the First Minister and Scottish union chiefs were at loggerheads last night after Mr Salmond claimed that his new government would ensure the poor "won't pick up the bill for the rich", despite the pay freeze for public sector workers.

He cast Scotland in contrast to the rest of the UK, claiming David Cameron's coalition government was crushing the hopes of families by leaving them exposed to deep spending cutbacks.

But Scottish union leaders last night put the spotlight back on Scottish ministers, and in particular on the current pay freeze, issued for all public sector workers earning more than 21,000.

With inflation now running at 4.5 per cent, they warned the freeze would equate to a 1,000 real terms pay cut for those workers who fall above that figure - 20 times the saving people were getting from the SNP's council tax freeze.

The row came after Mr Salmond used his opening policy statement to the Holyrood parliament to set out clear water between the Scottish Government and the UK coalition, insisting that there would be no copying of policies from south of the Border on tuition fees and prescription charging.

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"We do things differently here - not because we can, but because we want to," he said.

Mr Salmond described the "protection" offered to Scottish families as the SNP government's "social wage".

The Scottish Government would also seek to avoid any compulsory redundancies, he added. Invoking Margaret Thatcher's claim that "there is no such thing as society", he told a parliament now packed with his fellow SNP members that Scotland had chosen its own path.

"Elsewhere on these isles, the tolerance of the poor is being tested - budgets slashed, priorities changed, hope crushed in the braying tones of people who claim to know best. We should aspire to be different. In Scotland the poor won't be made to pick up the bill for the rich," he said.

On his immediate plans, Mr Salmond confirmed that the new administration would quickly table legislation to crack down on sectarianism. In his strongest comments yet on the outbreak of religiously motivated crimes over the last few months, he said: "I will not have people living in fear from some idiotic 17th-century rivalry in the 21st century."

And on drink, he pledged that the government would act quickly to introduce a new minimum per unit price.

He told MSPs: "I think that we have confused our appetite for fun with a hunger for self-destruction. We tolerate a race to the bottom of the bottle, which ruins our health, our judgment, our relationships, our safety and our dignity.Early legislation in this parliament will address bigotry and booze."

But the tensions sure to be caused by the unprecedented squeeze on public spending were already emerging last night, as union chiefs made it clear their members were feeling the pinch of the one-year pay freeze.

Ministers say the freeze will not stay in place "for the duration" of the current parliament, which ends in 2016.

A spokesman for the STUC backed the "ambition" of Mr Salmond's statement. But, he added: "All must recognise that the 'social wage' approach currently offers more to a rich person in a big house than someone who is unemployed and on benefits; such a person gets nothing from a council tax freeze but still has to face rising inflation and cuts in the vital public services.

"The proposed public sector pay freeze means thousands of workers who earn less than the average wage will lose up to 1000 in real terms next year - that is 20 times as much as they will save on average through the council tax freeze."

The SNP hit back last night, issuing figures showing how much its policies will save families. It noted how Scottish students will avoid debts of around 30,000 for a degree, and how average Band D council tax payers will save a cumulative 334 as a result of the freeze.

Mr Salmond told MSPs: "We know the pressures on family budgets. We know these tough times are forcing difficult decisions in homes the length and breadth of our nation. Many people have accepted a wage freeze. People understand that public spending must be restrained."

On the constitution, Mr Salmond described it as "a priority" but he insisted the challenge that drove him was that of improving the lives of the people.

He added: "It happens that we need full powers to do this but the people come before the powers, the community before the constitution, the children before the state."

However, opposition parties said Mr Salmond needed to be up front about when the referendum would be held, and what question would be posed. They also said the government should take responsibility for its actions, and not blame the constitution.

Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said: "We will not move Scotland forward if the government turns every challenge to them into a challenge to the constitutional settlement. We will not move Scotland forward at all by talking about the powers we do not have, not using the powers we do."

Scots Tory leader Annabel Goldie hit out at so-called "independence lite" - under which Scotland would be independent but share services with the rest of the UK. "You can no more be independent lite than you can be pregnant lite," she said. "We are either Scottish and British or we are not."

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie questioned the affordability of a council tax freeze.

He said: "The deep suspicion is that a five-year council tax freeze will be at the price of a five-year pay freeze. And that will cost public sector staff on modest wages dearly."