At the general election Labour made a solemn promise to the people of Scotland. We promised to end the era of austerity that has held us back.
To fix the foundations of our country that had been eroded by 14 years of Tory rule. To provide vital investment for our public services and to prioritise economic growth.
This was the promise we made to Scots. And in yesterday’s Labour budget, we delivered on that promise. In the first Labour budget in 14 years – and the first ever by a woman – Rachel Reeves delivered a transformative plan for Scotland and all of the UK. The scale of the transformation that Labour is proposing cannot be overstated.
This Labour budget delivers the largest budget settlement for the Scottish Government in the history of devolution – with the UK Government investing a total £47.7 billion in Scotland’s future. In addition to this £3.4bn increase to Scotland’s budget for 2025/26, Labour is providing a further £1.5Bn of funding in this year.
This is vital funding that must be used to support Scots and bolster our stretched public services. But this is only the start of what Labour will deliver. In the budget we announced compensation for the victims of both the infected blood scandal and the horizon post office scandal.
We announced the establishment of a Covid Corruption Commissioner to get our money back from dodgy Tory crony PPE deals. We extended the fuel duty cut, benefiting 3.2m Scots.
We announced an end to the miner’s pension scandal with action to support retired miners. We announced a 6.7 per cent lift in the National Living Wage – delivering a pay rise for 200,000 of the lowest-paid Scots.
A proper windfall tax on the outrageous excess profits of oil and gas giants. And millions of pounds of resourcing for the publicly-owned and Scotland-based GB Energy.
This is the transformative change that a UK Labour government is delivering for Scotland. This new money cannot be wasted due to SNP mismanagement, incompetence or waste. But Scotland’s journey of change has only just started.
Here in Scotland, we are still held back by an SNP government that is bad with public services, bad with our economy and bad with your money.
To make sure Scotland feels the full benefit of a transformative Labour budget, we need to make sure we have a Scottish government that is willing to work with the UK government to deliver for Scots.
Today we turn the page on 14 years of Tory failure – at the 2026 general election we have the chance to turn the page on 17 years of SNP failure as well by electing a Scottish Labour government.
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, clickhere