Government’s pension cash grab is totally wrong
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
CONSTITUENTS have been contacting me since early this year regarding the increases to pensions contributions being proposed by the UK Government.
The SNP believes it is totally wrong to increase public-sector workers’ contributions to their pension schemes at this time and in this way. It affects such people as police, fire brigade and health service staff. It is a naked cash grab to reduce the UK deficit and does nothing to address the sustainability of pensions over the long term.
We have made abundantly clear our principled opposition to UK Government policy to increase employee contributions at a time when public-sector workers face a pay freeze, significant increases in national insurance contributions, higher VAT and rising inflation and fuel costs.
However, the UK Government has made it clear to us that if the Scottish Government does not implement these changes, it will cut the Scottish budget by £100 million in 2012/13. You are no doubt aware that our budget is already being cut significantly by Westminster – £1.3 billion this year alone – which is already putting huge pressure on our public services. To add further to this is simply not an option.
We certainly share the concerns of other public-sector workers about the level, timing and reasons for these increases, and have made this abundantly clear to the UK Government. Its announcement on November 2 seemed to be a step in the right direction – albeit a very small one – but no further negotiation has followed and we certainly call on Cameron and Clegg to make further concessions.
The UK Government’s handling of this has been frankly woeful – this is no way to run any kind of process, never mind one that affects the livelihoods of millions of people. The Scottish Government has urged, and continues to urge, the UK Government to reconsider its proposals.
THE House of Commons received the much-leaked Autumn Statement from Chancellor Osborne earlier in the week.
The Treasury has gradually decided to follow the successful strategy of the Scottish Government’s "Plan MacB" and set out a targeted, cost-effective programme of new capital investment.
Despite a 36 per cent real-terms cut in its capital budget, the Scottish Government is using every lever at its disposal to invest more into capital in the coming years – with the result that investment in infrastructure is rising by a quarter in Scotland over the spending period.
I saw a Newsnight Scotland discussion on the changes and the intemperate remarks some weeks back on the programme by Lord Thurso. Ever the man for the memorable phrase, perhaps an apology to his constituents is due as the "invest in infrastructure" message from London smacks of a late conversion due to panic and not yet a full recognition that the Scottish Government has been correct and that major issues like renewables development and the role of the Pentland Firth figure hugely in Scottish thinking. Do they figure at all in London’s view?
In particular, the construction sector is crucial and the chancellor should respond positively to the proposals by many in the sector to reduce the rate of VAT on repair and maintenance work to houses from 20 per cent to five per cent. This would help improve our housing stock, create jobs and potentially bring empty homes back into use. He has still to go down that line.
FINANCIAL difficulties facing many families lead to many more approaches to the Citizens Advice Bureau for help. Wages are frozen, jobs are lost, hours are cut and now public pensions are under attack, so the last thing we need, especially before Christmas, is for added carriage costs to parcels ordered from further south.
Unfair delivery charges for rural customers hits the Highlands and Islands hardest. From the suburbs of Inverness north a hefty surcharge by most carriers kicks in automatically for parcels.
All this goes back to the breaking up of the Royal Mail. The national carrier was set on a commercial path by being exposed to competition and cherry picking lucrative city business. The results are longer distance delivery suffers most.
Solutions are difficult to deliver. A regulated market is the last thing the Tory/Lib Dem coalition would support. A Scottish Postal Service is my best option to begin the evening-out process. But with many parcels ordered from further south a UK solution is not likely. Perhaps we should look at prices charged in neighbouring European countries and find some best practice.
ST Andrew’s Day this year has been engulfed by the widespread public-sector pensions strikes. I spoke in a member’s debate in parliament since it is now over four years since the St Andrew’s Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Bill was unanimously approved by the Parliament.
We paid tribute to Dennis Canavan for his efforts in this regard and welcome what it sees as the increasing interest in celebrating this national holiday. However, MSPs feel that more still needs to be done, and believes that everyone in Scotland should have the opportunity of celebrating their national identity, their cultural diversity and their membership of the international community on St Andrew’s Day.
I hope you were able to take some time on November 30 to celebrate our national day.
Last Friday I enjoyed a local ceilidh at Invershin where a new generation was in fine voice and tune. All over the North we have more to celebrate than bemoan this year.
www.robgibson.org
