'The SNP has run out of ideas' claim opposition after government plan announced

Opposition leaders criticised Nicola Sturgeon’s decision to restart work on a White Paper for Scottish Independence amid the challenges faced by Scotland as it recovers from the pandemic.

Opposition leaders reacted to the Scottish Government's programme for government.

Both Scottish Labour and the Scottish Conservatives attacked the SNP’s focus on independence in the programme for government and said more should be done to tackle inequality and the health sector.

Speaking during a debate after the First Minister’s statement announcing the government’s plans for the coming year, Labour leader Anas Sarwar said voters would be asking “is that it?”

Calling on an immediate doubling of the Scottish Child Payment, Mr Sarwar claimed there is a “lack of ambition” within the SNP, calling the programme a "piecemeal plan” and adding that there are “ideas bigger than independence”.

He said: “This isn’t good enough, it isn’t bold enough, and it won’t do enough. This is a tired and rehashed programme from a party that has clearly run out of big ideas.

"This disappointing programme for government shows that there is a lack of ambition from this SNP government.

"Seriously, is that it? Is that as good as it gets? Is that the scale of ambition for this country? I don’t think so.

"This government’s record is defined by delays, broken promises and a gulf between spin and action and it seems we can expect more of the same.”

He added: “What we have seen in this Programme for Government is just another example of a pattern that defines the SNP's approach.

"Promise big, never deliver, blame someone else and hope people have forgotten about it when you get round to promising it again.

"Frankly, Scotland deserves better."

In a tense debate in which Douglas Ross told the First Minister “when I’m standing, you have to sit” when taking an intervention, the Conservative leader called on the Scottish Government to ensure additional funding for health was available.

It follows the announcement from the UK Government that it will raise National Insurance by 1.25 percentage points to help pay for NHS recovery and tackling the social care crisis.

This is likely to see the Scottish Government receive additional funding through the Barnett formula.

Accusing the SNP of “taking time and resources away” from more pressing priorities such as drug deaths, Mr Ross criticised the decision by the Scottish Government to restart work on an independence White Paper.

He said: “All of the SNP MSPs, like all of the Conservative MSPs, all of the Labour MSPs, all of the Liberal Democrats and all of the Greens said in the election that our priority for each and every one of the 129 of us would be Scotland’s recovery from this pandemic, but that’s not the priority of this First Minister.

"Nicola Sturgeon has put independence above Scottish jobs, separating Scotland is the top priority for her government, not our recovery.

"This government should be pouring every single bit of time and effort into our economy, into tackling drug deaths and into remobilising our NHS, but no, they put independence at the forefront again.”

New Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, Alex Cole-Hamilton, calling on additional funding for mental health funding, also criticised the lack of “hope” in the announcement.

He said: “Rather [there is] old hype, reheated, and rebadged.”

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