THE Scottish Greens have urged the Scottish Government to take a harder stance in tackling poverty in its Budget.
Co-leader Patrick Harvie said he had hoped that Finance Secretary Kate Forbes would have taken more direct action to tackle poverty.
Harvie explained: “This year we have been clear that we expect the Government to do much more to support household incomes, especially targeting those who are most in need.
“Many of those hardest hit by the pandemic were already struggling to get by before it, and require urgent support.
READ MORE: UK Budget: Kate Forbes urges Rishi Sunak to extend furlough scheme
“If the Scottish Government believes it can afford a council tax freeze – a policy that will give the biggest savings to the wealthiest – it must be willing to do more to support people living in poverty.”
However, the Glasgow MSP said that his party is willing to work constructively with the Government to facilitate that change and he has suggested several ways of improving the budget.
“We’ve proposed various ways the Government might get support to people including via social security payments, by cutting energy bills, providing free school meals to all primary school children and ensuring a fair public sector pay settlement is reached,” he continued.
Harvie added: “The Scottish Green approach to budgets has always focused on putting forward positive, workable proposals.
“That constructive approach has delivered major success in recent years including the introduction of Scotland’s fairer income tax system, a system that we alone proposed at the last election.”
READ MORE: Scottish Budget: Kate Forbes pledges to work with Labour on care workers' pay rise
He spoke of the party’s successes which have been achieved by “approaching negotiations in a collaborative spirit” and argued that this was a positive indication that a good deal is achievable.
These include funding for marine protections and local rail projects, funding for a teachers’ pay rise, mitigation against council cuts, and secured free bus travel for under-19s – which will be implemented later this year.
Harvie concluded: “We remain willing to work constructively to deliver vital changes to the budget but can only vote for it if the Government makes significant movement, ensuring all those living in poverty get the essential support they need.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here