Gray attacks SNP record on child poverty

Published on Tuesday 26 April 2011 21:04

SCOTTISH Labour leader Iain Gray today attacked the SNP over rising child poverty and claimed young people faced two distinct futures under his party or the Nationalists.

Visiting a nursery in Morningside, he said: "The shocking legacy of the SNP is that child poverty is rising. Under Labour, child poverty fell every year and under the SNP child poverty rose every year. That is a shocking neglect of the next generation and unforgivable in today's Scotland."

Labour quoted figures showing that in 2005-6, when Labour was in government, 44 per cent of Scots children lived in low-income households, but by 2008-9, under the SNP, the figure had risen to 47 per cent.

Mr Gray underlined Labour's commitment to abolish youth unemployment as part of its drive to create 250,000 new jobs over the next decade.

He said: "The future of Scotland lies in the hands of our young people, who today face two distinct futures - a future of opportunity, with a Labour government focused on creating thousands more jobs, apprenticeships, training opportunities, supporting businesses to grow and prosper, tackling child poverty and making our schools better, or an Nationalist government distracted by their obsession with breaking up Britain."

SNP leader Alex Salmond today claimed Scotland could become the "high-tech workshop of the world" with 130,000 jobs in the low-carbon sector by 2020.

He said Leith would be among the places to benefit as ports around Scotland became the focus of manufacturing for offshore renewables.

He said: "Already, some of the world's biggest companies have announced major investment in Scotland's renewables sector. The SNP is planning a record 25,000 modern apprenticeships a year, as part of 100,000 training opportunities every year, and these will help build the skills needed to capitalise on Scotland's vast green energy sources.

"We have a quarter of Europe's offshore wind and tidal potential, and a tenth of the continent's wave power sources. With the proper investment in research and development, and in the engineering skills we need, we can and will turn that potential into reality.

"And by generating all of Scotland's own electricity needs from renewables by 2020, we will be well-placed to go further and become a leading exporter of energy generated from renewables."

Meanwhile Independent Margo MacDonald announced that if she is re-elected she will introduce a bill in the Scottish Parliament to tackle sky-high interest rates charged by licensed lending companies.

She said some lenders were legally charging poor families thousands of per cent on loans they took out just to make ends meet.

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