First Minister's Statement: Scottish Government's Programme

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 9:34 am on 3 September 2008.

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Photo of Cathy Jamieson Cathy Jamieson Labour 9:34, 3 September 2008

Thank you, Presiding Officer.

I heard what you said about the length of questions.

I thank the First Minister for the advance copy of his statement. I also thank the journalists who so accurately predicted the number of bills that would be in the programme.

It is perhaps unsurprising that I have a sense of déjà vu. If we look through the Scottish Government's statement, we cannot help but notice what is missing from it as much as what is present in the document—I probably made that point this time last year. Class size reduction is absent; further investment in health is missing; and the end of automatic early release has somehow escaped from the programme. How can anyone believe the entirety of the document, when there has been no progress on so many of last year's pledges and promises?

The programme contains measures on which Labour will look favourably, for example the measures on climate change and arbitration and the proposals on school meals, which were in the Labour manifesto. However, other measures will need detailed scrutiny. The devil is always in the detail, of course. In particular, the measures to do with tackling alcohol and tobacco issues will need to be examined, to ensure that they do not simply sound tough but are workable and will deliver the health benefits that are talked about.

The First Minister said that the three members who are sitting on the Labour front bench agree that reform of the council tax is needed. However, all three of us also agree that local income tax is not the solution to the problem. In saying that, we are in agreement with the Institute of Directors, Unison and the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland—organisations that traditionally are not always in agreement. The reality is that a local income tax would cause misery for people who rely on local services and would cut the legs from local government, making Scotland the highest-taxed part of the United Kingdom. Will the First Minister please stop gambling with people's local services to save his political face? Will he have the humility to listen to the people who criticise the local income tax proposal and will he admit that the proposal was a mistake and work with all parties to come up with a property-based local tax that will be fairer for all?

There was little if any mention of the Scottish futures trust in the First Minister's statement. The First Minister promised to match Labour's school building programme brick for brick, but while he prevaricates on the Scottish futures trust not a single brick will have been laid, which is not good enough. Will he therefore give us a timetable that sets out when the Scottish futures trust will be in place and when we will receive further details of the school building programme and the second Forth crossing, which was promised but is in doubt while we await details of the Scottish futures trust?