NEWLY-elected Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard met firefighters at a rally outside Holyrood yesterday – as his predecessor crawled on her hands and knees through fish guts and raw meat after abandoning her constituents for a reality TV show.
Leonard, who beat rival Anas Sarwar in the leadership election, addressed members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) Scotland, which had organised the protest in response to fears over cut backs.
“Now is the time, now is the hour for the Scottish Government to step up to the plate, use the powers that you’ve got, stop the cuts in public services, stop the cuts in the fire and rescue services,” he said.
He went on to claim, controversially, it was his party that was responsible for the Chancellor announcing a VAT exemption for the Scottish fire and police services in his Budget on Wednesday – a decision both the SNP and Scottish Tories are claiming credit for too.
But the contrast between his actions on the political frontline and Kezia Dugdale’s in Australia, where she is appearing on the ITV show I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! couldn’t have been starker.
In a clip of last night’s show, released just before First Minister’s Questions yesterday, Dugdale, a Labour MSP for Lothian, was filmed alongside fellow newcomer Iain Lee, in a stomach-churning bushtucker trial.
In the challenge, she and radio DJ Lee are tasked with retrieving red stars buried deep within large boxes filled with various material, including raw meat and fish guts.
Each box has a pun name attached based on politicians, such as Sickola Sturgeon, Margaret Scratcher and Theresa Dismay, and the other celebrity campmates were able to watch their attempts from green tiered benches to match those in the House of Commons. Dugdale struggles to find a star among a gruesome cocktail of slippery innards.
Dugdale’s appearance in the show has divided viewers and left MSPs in her own party and others furious. The SNP MSP Ivan McKee has said she is devaluing Holyrood. She had been denied permission by political bosses to take part in the show, but it was announced earlier this week that she will not face suspension from her party over her appearance.
Meanwhile back in Holyrood, Leonard used his speech to stress that under his leadership, Scottish Labour will “reforge the alliance with the trades union movement”.
Protesters carrying placards with slogans including ‘cuts costs lives’ heard from FBU Scotland secretary Denise Christie, who said: “We’ve seen over £60 million out of our budget since 2013 and we were promised by the Scottish Government that that would not impact on the frontline but it absolutely has.
“Over 700 firefighter jobs lost, five control rooms lost, we’re regularly seeing appliances unavailable for emergencies because we’ve not got enough staff to crew them.
“So we’ve come here to tell the Scottish Government, in two weeks’ time when you announce your budget you need to make sure that firefighters are properly rewarded and the fire service is properly resourced in order to protect the people of Scotland.”
Eight regional brigades merged to create the single Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in 2013 and staff numbers have since fallen but there have been no compulsory redundancies and no station closures.
When the leaked document emerged last month Chief Fire Officer Alasdair Hay said the changes were “not cuts” but rather a “fundamental redesign of the service” as staffing issues mean 60 to 100 fire engines are out of operation every day across Scotland.
Leonard raised the issue during his first appearance at First Minister’s Questions as Scottish Labour leader, where he asked his former rival Sarwar to take the seat beside him.
“These heroic firefighters have seen over 700 frontline jobs axed, they have watched their pay be cut in real terms year upon year,” he said.
But Nicola Sturgeon said the service’s operational budget had been increased this year by £21.7 million to support investment in equipment and other resources and said £10m next year would be reclaimed as a result of the new VAT exemption.
“Since reform of the fire service, there have been no compulsory redundancies and no station closures,” the First Minister said. “A hundred additional firefighters were recruited in January this year, and a recruitment campaign for 300 additional firefighters will be launched next week.”
Sturgeon said pay negotiations were ongoing and the Scottish Government was the only government in the UK so far to confirm it will end the one per cent public sector pay cap.
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