Kezia Dugdale writes to SNP MSPs

7/25/2019 Kezia Dugdale writes to SNP MSPs

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George Adam MSP4 Johnston StreetPaisleyPA1 1XG

Wednesday, 10 February 2016

Dear George

I am writing to make a personal appeal to you ahead of the debate on the ScottishRate of Income Tax tomorrow.

In Scotland, with the new financial powers our parliament has already gained, wehave an opportunity to do things differently. I know that you believe we should useour powers to do things differently. You are on the record making this clear:

Westminsters failed austerity agenda is holding Scotland b ack. TheParl iament needs further powers to brin g about the last ing grow th and

to cr eate the futur e that we all want in Sco tland. To take that next stepthat next leapthe Parl iament needs to gain furth er powers.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Renfrewshire Council are 13.5m.As your SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts that will hurteveryone.

When the First Minister spoke on this issue in Parliament last week she claimed thata low paid worker would pay more in extra tax than she would. This was repeated bythe Deputy First Minister. I am sure you will have, by now, examined this issue andwill see that this simply isnt the case. In fact the First Minister would pay 76 timesmore in additional tax than a low paid worker, and thats before taking into accountthe 100 cash-back for lower income taxpayers.

Even for someone earning around the average wage, the claim is a grossexaggeration. So, to take the example the First Minister gave to Parliament lastweek:


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Under Labours proposals the amount of tax I paid would go up by 2.7%.Theamount of tax that a nurse, a teacher, a care worker would pay would go upby 5%. That is not fair

This is deeply misleading, and I want to make sure you do not vote against our plan

to stop cuts on this basis. When you substitute the misleading percentages in theFirst Ministers quote with annual cash figures you can see that this measure is fair.

Under Labours proposals the amount of tax I paid would go up by 1,447ayear. The amount of tax that a nurse, a teacher, a care worker would paywould go up by 140a year

I know you too will have been concerned to hear the First Minister claim thatLabours plan was not a progressive measure. You will have seen in the last fewdays that the respected Resolution Foundation has analysed our plans andconcluded this tax rise would be progressive. Professor David Bell of Stirling

University concluded that "among the poorer households there's almost no effect atall from a 1p increase in income tax". Both the Scottish Parliament InformationCentre and the House of Commons Library have confirmed Professor Bells findings.

Last week you voted against our amendment which would have used our powers toavoid cuts to education and local services. I would urge you to reconsider ahead ofthis second vote. In doing so, please remember your own words about the need tobreak from austerity and ask yourself whether the community you represent canafford the cuts that are coming as a result of this budget.

Faced with the choice between using the powers we have now, and making cuts toschools, local services and our nations future prosperity please join Labour MSPs inchoosing to use our powers.

I urge you to please leave aside party politics and choose to do the right thing.

Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale

Scottish Labour Leader


3/74

Clare Adamson MSPUnit 19Enterprise HouseDalziel StreetMotherwellML1 1PJ


Dear Clare



Oxfam says that tackl ing p overty and inequal i ty mu st include

action to ensure that we have a just tax system in which everyone paystheir fair shareeach according to their means.

There is a degree of con sensus th at the tax system needs to change to

achieve that. I t is jus t unfortun ate that we do no t have the power to do

that in the Scott ish Parl iament at this t ime.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Falkirk & North LanarkshireCouncils are 46.9m. As your SNP colleagues in local government have said,these are cuts that will hurt everyone.

When the First Minister spoke on this issue in Parliament last week she claimed thata low paid worker would pay more in extra tax than she would. This was repeated bythe Deputy First Minister. I am sure you will have, by now, examined this issue andwill see that this simply isnt the case. In fact the First Minister would pay 76 timesmore in additional tax than a low paid worker, and thats before taking into account

the 100 cash-back for lower income taxpayers.


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Under Labours proposals the amount of tax I paid would go up by 2.7%.The

amount of tax that a nurse, a teacher, a care worker would pay would go upby 5%. That is not fair

This is deeply misleading, and I want to make sure you do not vote against our planto stop cuts on this basis. When you substitute the misleading percentages in theFirst Ministers quote with annual cash figures you can see that this measure is fair.


I know you too will have been concerned to hear the First Minister claim thatLabours plan was not a progressive measure. You will have seen in the last fewdays that the respected Resolution Foundation has analysed our plans andconcluded this tax rise would be progressive. Professor David Bell of StirlingUniversity concluded that "among the poorer households there's almost no effect atall from a 1p increase in income tax". Both the Scottish Parliament InformationCentre and the House of Commons Library have confirmed Professor Bells findings.




Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



5/74

Alasdair Allan MSP31 BayheadStornowayIsle of LewisHS1 2DU


Dear Alasdair



I intend to make sure the islands have the strong voice they need onissues as varied as transport l inks , tackl ing fu el poverty and creat ing

jobs. 2016 w il l be a chan ce fo r the SNP to increase its vo te at Holy rood

fol lowin g on from th e spectacular succ ess at the Westminster elect ions.

More impo rtant ly, i t wi l l be an opportunity to ensure that Scot land bui lds

the case st i l l further for the powers w e need to thr ive as a country.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Eilean Siar Council are 6m. As

your SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts that will hurteveryone.


Even for someone earning around the average wage, the claim is a gross

exaggeration. So, to take the example the First Minister gave to Parliament lastweek:


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I know you too will have been concerned to hear the First Minister claim thatLabours plan was not a progressive measure. You will have seen in the last fewdays that the respected Resolution Foundation has analysed our plans and

concluded this tax rise would be progressive. Professor David Bell of StirlingUniversity concluded that "among the poorer households there's almost no effect atall from a 1p increase in income tax". Both the Scottish Parliament InformationCentre and the House of Commons Library have confirmed Professor Bells findings.




Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



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Colin Beattie MSP164 High StreetDalkeithEH22 1AY


Dear Colin



I t appears to m e, and I hope to the Scott ish people, that our o nlysolut ion to end the constant underminin g of our efforts to reduce

inequal i ty and f inal ly rid ou rselves of the damaging austeri ty agenda is

an SNP vote in the com ing g eneral elect ion.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Midlothian Council are 6.3m. Asyour SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts that will hurteveryone.




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to stop cuts on this basis. When you substitute the misleading percentages in theFirst Ministers quote withannual cash figures you can see that this measure is fair.







Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



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Aileen Campbell MSPRoom 1Kirkton Chambers12 Kirkton StreetCarlukeML8 4AB


Dear Aileen



Scot land is largely united by a desire to see our co untry b ecome fairer,regardless o f how we voted in th e referendum . Most recognise that

Scot land needs to h ave much greater control of tax and w elfare if we are

to get away from simp ly softening blow s and mit igat ing the effects of UK

Tory austeri ty that punish the vulnerable for others economicmismanagement.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to the

constituents you represent. The estimated cuts to South Lanarkshire Council are29.1m. As your SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts thatwill hurt everyone.



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Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



11/74

Roderick Campbell MSPUnit F1Coal RoadCuparFifeKY15 5YQ


Dear Roderick



For most o thers, austeri ty rules. It is c learly b etter to make prog ress oninequal i ty when the economy is g row ing. Despite comments to the

contrary by the UK Government, the UKs national debt is growing, withpubl ic b orrow ing grow ing year on year and successive years of tr ip le-

digi t bi l l ion-poun d def ic i ts. Even the Prime Minister is warning of a

legacy of debt, which I am certain wil l be one of many epithets that are

deployed about his t ime in off ice.

The solut ion canno t be simply to cut publ ic sp ending mo re, althoug hthat is w hat the Tories, and now Labour, appear to bel ieve. We mus t not

embrace austeri ty.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Fife Council are 26.2m. As yourSNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts that will hurteveryone.

When the First Minister spoke on this issue in Parliament last week she claimed thata low paid worker would pay more in extra tax than she would. This was repeated by

the Deputy First Minister. I am sure you will have, by now, examined this issue andwill see that this simply isnt the case. In fact the First Minister would pay 76 times


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more in additional tax than a low paid worker, and thats before taking into accountthe 100 cash-back for lower income taxpayers.

Even for someone earning around the average wage, the claim is a grossexaggeration. So, to take the example the First Minister gave to Parliament last

week:



Under Labours proposals the amount of tax I paid would go up by 1,447a

year. The amount of tax that a nurse, a teacher, a care worker would paywould go up by 140a year





Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



13/74

Willie Coffey MSP62 John Finnie StreetKilmarnockKA1 1BS


Dear Willie



I hope that we wo uld rather intervene earl ier and p revent people fromfal l ing in to pov erty in the f irst place. Surely to good ness no caring

Government would w ant to engineer the condit ions that drive people

into p overty, with the co nsequent damage that that causes. We cannot

go on treat ing the symptoms of po verty if one Government del iberately

sets ou t to make it wo rse. Therefore, it was w ith great pride that I

l istened to the First Minister when she said that her Government wil l

stand against a Government that impo ses austeri ty on the vulnerable

wh i le preparing to spend bi l l ions of pounds o n renewing Trident.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to East Ayshire Council are 12m.As your SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts that will hurteveryone.

When the First Minister spoke on this issue in Parliament last week she claimed thata low paid worker would pay more in extra tax than she would. This was repeated bythe Deputy First Minister. I am sure you will have, by now, examined this issue andwill see that this simply isnt the case. In fact the First Minister would pay 76 times

more in additional tax than a low paid worker, and thats before taking into accountthe 100 cash-back for lower income taxpayers.


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Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



15/74

Bruce Crawford MSPSuite 3:3Wallace HouseMaxwell PlaceStirlingFK8 1JU


Dear Bruce



The Scott ish Governm ent wil l cont inue to work alongside our partnersin local gov ernment to del iver the best possible deal for people in

Scot land and to protect our pub l ic services as mu ch as possible fromthe austeri ty agenda being imposed by Westminster.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Stirling Council are 7.1m. Asyour SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts that will hurt

everyone.



week:


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Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



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Bob Doris MSP3rd FloorEmpire House131 West Nile StreetGlasgowG1 2RX


Dear Bob



Having recent ly returned from the SNP Conference in Ab erdeen, it wasgreat to see thousands of o ur delegates - many of them from north

Glasgowunited in the campaign for an SNP Scott ish Gov ernment in2016. The message was clear; we reject Conservative austerity and w e

wil l f igh t for the fairer Scot land we al l want to see.

For my p art I co-spons ored two su ccessful con ference resolut ions, one

on the Scott ish Government protect ing pu bl ic services such as health

and educat ion and the other, welcoming the Fairer Scot land

cons ultat ion run by the Scott ish Government. This cons ultat ion held

several events, including on es held in Possi lpark and Royston - both of

wh ich I attended. The basic premise is that i f Scot land had the powers to

design our ow n benefi ts system, taxat ion system and so on, how wou ld

we choo se to use them, and in doing so ensur e we promote fairness and

equal i ty and give dignity to ou r communit ies - unl ike the current UK

sys tem which del iberately targets them


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Together w ith several other posit ive announc ements, the SNP isseeking to m ap out the kind of soc iety we al l want to see - despite

l imi ted pow ers and UK cuts.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to the

constituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Glasgow City Council are 65.2m.As your SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts that will hurteveryone.






I know you too will have been concerned to hear the First Minister claim thatLabours plan was not a progressive measure. You will have seen in the last fewdays that the respected Resolution Foundation has analysed our plans andconcluded this tax rise would be progressive. Professor David Bell of StirlingUniversity concluded that "among the poorer households there's almost no effect at

all from a 1p increase in income tax". Both the Scottish Parliament InformationCentre and the House of Commons Library have confirmed Professor Bells findings.


Faced with the choice between using the powers we have now, and making cuts toschools, local services and our nations future prosperity please join Labour MSPs in

choosing to use our powers.


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Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



20/74

James Dornan MSP4 Kings Park RoadGlasgowG44 4TU


Dear James



I t is clear from the IFS analysis that austeri ty is no t working , and o uralternat ive of m odest real-terms spending increases in each year of the

next parl iamentary session instead of cuts w ould see the def ic i t and

debt fal l as a share of our nat ional income, freeing u p bi l l ions of poun ds

to reinvest in infrastructure, ski l ls, publ ic services and protect ing o ur

people

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Glasgow City Council are 65.2m.As your SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts that will hurt

everyone.



week:


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Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



22/74

Jim Eadie MSP13-15 Morningside DriveEdinburghEH10 5NX


Dear Jim



The fact is that austeri ty is harm ing the economy; it is putt ing p ressureon hou sehold and family b udgets and it is putt ing pressure on publ ic

services. Austeri ty has fai led because publ ic spending is at i ts lowest

level in modern t imesa point that was made by Kevin Stewart and K enMacintosh. As we heard, publ ic spending wil l fa l l to 35.2 per cent of GDP

by 2019-20 and will probably be the lowest in around 80 years,according to the OBR. Therefore the reality of the UK Governmentsausteri ty agenda is that total Government spending wil l be reduced to its

lowest level since the 1930s, yet we kn ow that the bulk o f the cuts are

st i l l to come.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to City of Edinburgh Council are35.3m. As your SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts thatwill hurt everyone.




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Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



24/74

Linda Fabiani MSP1/3 Strathmore HouseEast KilbrideG74 1LF


Dear Linda



I abso lutely believe that we have made and, indeed, shown the casethat we can manage down a deficit without attacking societys socialfabric, as the Westmins ter coal i t ion Government is qu ite clearly do ing.

I was interested to h ear Wil l ie Rennie ment ion the price of borrow ing. To

go down th at route is to argue against any bor rowin g whatsoever. The

price of austeri ty is more imp ortant. Ask p eople out there about the

price of the austeri ty measures that are wrecking the fabric o f our

society and m aking things dif f icul t for s ingle people, famil ies, and

wo rking p eople right across our co untry. That is the true price, and it is

one that is not w orth paying , as far as I am conc erned.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to South Lanarkshire Council are29.1m. As your SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts thatwill hurt everyone.




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This is deeply misleading, and I want to make sure you do not vote against our planto stop cuts on this basis. When you substitute the misleading percentages in theFirst Ministers quote with annual cash figuresyou can see that this measure is fair.






Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



26/74

Joe FitzPatrick MSP8 Old Glamis RoadDundeeDD3 8HP


Dear Joe



We need to g et new p owers in Scot land to enable us to tackle povertyand inequal i ty. With pow er over the tax and benef i ts system in

Scotlands hands we can take strong action to replace poverty withoppo rtunity and to replace austeri ty with prosperi ty ensuring thatevery chi ld in Scot land h as the same opportun it ies in l i fe regardless o f

their background and that Scotlands wealth is reinvested for the benefitof everyone wh o l ives here.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Dundee Council are 16.3m. As






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Under Labours proposals the amount of tax Ipaid would go up by 2.7%.Theamount of tax that a nurse, a teacher, a care worker would pay would go upby 5%. That is not fair








Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



28/74

Kenneth Gibson MSP15 Main St,Dalry,AyrshireKA24 5DL


Dear Kenneth



I t is imperat ive that the SNP Government uses the econom ic levers thati t has to tackle inequal i ty.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to North Ayshire Council are 13.3m.As your SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts that will hurteveryone.

When the First Minister spoke on this issue in Parliament last week she claimed that

a low paid worker would pay more in extra tax than she would. This was repeated bythe Deputy First Minister. I am sure you will have, by now, examined this issue andwill see that this simply isnt the case. In fact the First Minister would pay 76 timesmore in additional tax than a low paid worker, and thats before taking into accountthe 100 cash-back for lower income taxpayers.





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Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



30/74

Rob Gibson MSP4 Grant StreetWickCaithnessKW1 5AY


Dear Rob



There was a mood of resolve in the face of the London coalitionsprescript ion to slash the block grant to Scot land along w ith its austeri ty

package to control the UKs spiralling debt crisis. Opinion polls showstrong supp ort for the SNP Government and its d etermin at ion to use the

funds it has to inject capita l into grow ing the economy thro ugh

cons truct ing sch ools, hosp ita ls and other publ ic proc urement.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Highland Council are 23.7m. As






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Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



32/74

Jamie Hepburn MSP13 The Wynd,CumbernauldG67 2ST


Dear Jamie



This budget proves the Scottish Governments commitment and abilityto d el iver. In th e current f inancial landsc ape, the Scott ish Government

can either meekly accept these UK Government c uts or we can rise to

the chal lenge and chos e a Scott ish alternat ive to austeri ty.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to North Lanarkshire Council are32.7m. As your SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts thatwill hurt everyone.




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Under Labours proposals the amount of tax Ipaid would go up by 2.7%.Theamount of tax that a nurse, a teacher, a care worker would pay would go upby 5%. That is not fair









Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



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Bill Kidd MSPRoom 1.16Anniesland College19 Hatfield DriveGlasgowG12 0YE


Dear Bill



Putt ing more mo ney in people 's pock ets in these strai tened f inancialt imes is o f great concern to m e; I hope that an the expansion of the SNP

MPs in Westminster wil l go some way to achieving a change in the

austeri ty pol i t ics and s evere cuts we've seen in recent years.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Glasgow City Council are 65.2m.As your SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts that will hurt

everyone.



week:


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Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



36/74

Richard Lyle MSPUnit 19Enterprise HouseDalziel StreetMotherwellML1 1PJ


Dear Richard



The people of Scot land w il l have their say in May about w hom theywant to represent them in Westm inster, and I hope that we wil l send a

strong team o f SNP MPs down to Westmins ter. We wil l send those MPs

down not only to demand the further powers that we were prom ised to

help bui ld and grow our economy , but to change cours e and turn the car

around o n the road to fur ther austerity, with a cal l for mo re investment

and a dif ferent out look from that of the coal it ion Government and its

slash-and-burn econom ic approach

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Falkirk & North LanarkshireCouncils are 46.9m. As your SNP colleagues in local government have said,these are cuts that will hurt everyone.




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Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



38/74

Gordon MacDonald MSPM3.04The Scottish ParliamentEdinburghEH99 1SP


Dear Gordon



However, the real culpr i t is the Conservat ive Government, whoseausteri ty measures are decimat ing pu bl ic sector b udgets across the UK.

In its report Closing the attainment gap in Scottish education, theJoseph Rowntree Foundat ion highl ighted the l ink between poverty and

attainment. It identif ied that

lower attainment in literacy andnumeracy is l inked to deprivat ionthroughout primary school and thatparental socio-economic b ackgroun d has mo re inf luence than theschool attended....

There is mor e to do and there are bud getary challeng es. However, ifeducat ional outcomes and posit ive dest inat ions are the measures of

succ ess, Scott ish educat ion has cont inued to imp rove and del iver for

Scotlands young people.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to City of Edinburgh Council are35.3m. As your SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts thatwill hurt everyone.


a low paid worker would pay more in extra tax than she would. This was repeated bythe Deputy First Minister. I am sure you will have, by now, examined this issue and


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will see that this simply isnt the case. In fact the First Minister would pay 76 timesmore in additional tax than a low paid worker, and thats before taking into accountthe 100 cash-back for lower income taxpayers.










Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



40/74

Mike MacKenzie MSP31 Combie StreetObanArgyllPA34 4HS


Dear Mike



"We should forg et the austeri ty po l ic ies and loo k towards the SNP

pol icy of increasing the budg et by half a per cent every year and

perhaps thereby pass on som e of the increase to cou nci ls and at least

protect them from further cuts

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Highland Council are 23.7m. Asyour SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts that will hurteveryone.




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to stop cuts on this basis. When you substitute the misleading percentages in theFirst Ministers quote with annualcash figures you can see that this measure is fair.







Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



42/74

John Mason MSPGlasgow Shettleston Constituency Office1335 GallowgateParkhead CrossGlasgowG31 4DN


Dear John



Next Apri l Scot land gets the pow er to raise or lower part of the IncomeTax rate. So sho uld w e raise the rate and h ave more m oney for sch ools,

hosp ita ls, and roads? Or s hould we cut the rate even if that means cuts

to services? ...

"Westminster is grudg ingly giv ing us a few extra powers. They do no t

even trust us with the ful l 20p of Income Tax so w e only get to have a

say o ver half of that -10p! I wou ld like to see the top (45p) rate raised.

But that would m ean raising the bottom rate too, wh ich cou ld be hard on

ord inary work ing fo lk .

" In the long ru n the Scott ish Parliament needs m ore powers in o rder to

grow the economy and cr eate more jobs. But in the meant ime we wil l do

the best with w hat we have.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Glasgow City Council are 65.2m.As your SNP colleagues in local government have said, these are cuts that will hurteveryone.


a low paid worker would pay more in extra tax than she would. This was repeated bythe Deputy First Minister. I am sure you will have, by now, examined this issue and


43/74

will see that this simply isnt the case. In fact the First Minister would pay 76 timesmore in additional tax than a low paid worker, and thats before taking into accountthe 100 cash-back for lower income taxpayers.





Under Labours proposals the amount of tax Ipaid would go up by 1,447ayear. The amount of tax that a nurse, a teacher, a care worker would paywould go up by 140a year

I know you too will have been concerned to hear the First Minister claim thatLabours plan was not a progressive measure. Youwill have seen in the last fewdays that the respected Resolution Foundation has analysed our plans andconcluded this tax rise would be progressive. Professor David Bell of StirlingUniversity concluded that "among the poorer households there's almost no effect atall from a 1p increase in income tax". Both the Scottish Parliament InformationCentre and the House of Commons Library have confirmed Professor Bells findings.




Yours sincerely,

Kezia Dugdale



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Stewart Maxwell MSP4 Robertson StreetBarrheadGlasgowG78 1QW


Dear Stewart



Since 2007, one of the Scottish Governments central goals has been touse this Parliaments limited powers to strive for a fairer, more equalsociety.

Decades of m ismanagement in the years before devolut ion created a

legacy of inequal i ty and emig rat ion, and a feel ing of hopelessness

among st many people who felt that they had less opp ortunity than the

generat ion th at preceded them . Unfortunately, as we al l know, poverty

was embedded in o ur so ciety. I ts eradicat ion is a generat ional projectthat cannot be solved by a single Government or a single session o f

Parliament.

Nonetheless, we can always do m ore to bui ld momentum towards

creat ing a society th at gives al l Scot lands young people hope for thefuture and an oppo rtunity to m ake the most of th eir talents, no m atter

their background . Undoub tedly educat ion is one of the mo st pow erful

tools at our d isposal to c reate the fairer and mo re equal society that

everyone in the chamber w ould l ike to s ee.

Since 2007, the Scott ish Gov ernment has inv ested in and im proved o ureducat ion system , and made progress o n the vita l long-term project of


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eradicat ing po verty. If we cont inue o n the path that has b een set, a chi ld

born today in one of our m ost depr ived communi t ies should , by the t ime

they leave scho ol, have the same chance of going to univ ersi ty as a

chi ld bor n in one of our most aff luent commu nit ies.

We are fight ing against damaging Westmins ter austeri ty and extremelydamaging c uts. There are no quick and easy f ixes and we must co nt inue

to bui ld o n our achievements, to ensure that the prom ise of a more

equal future becom es a reality

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to East DunbartonshireEast Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and WestDunbartonshire Councils are 57.3m. As your SNP colleagues in local governmenthave said, these are cuts that will hurt everyone.





Under Labours proposals the amount of tax I paid would go up by 1,447ayear. The amount of tax that a nurse, a teacher, a care worker would pay

would go up by 140a year

I know you too will have been concerned to hear the First Minister claim thatLabours plan was not a progressive measure. You will have seen in the last fewdays that the respected Resolution Foundation has analysed our plans andconcluded this tax rise would be progressive. Professor David Bell ofStirlingUniversity concluded that "among the poorer households there's almost no effect atall from a 1p increase in income tax". Both the Scottish Parliament InformationCentre and the House of Commons Library have confirmed Professor Bells findings.

Last week you voted against our amendment which would have used our powers to

avoid cuts to education and local services. I would urge you to reconsider ahead ofthis second vote. In doing so, please remember your own words about the need to


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break from austerity and ask yourself whether the community you represent canafford the cuts that are coming as a result of this budget.

Faced with the choice between using the powers we have now, and making cuts toschools, local services and our nations future prosperity please join Labour MSPs in

choosing to use our powers.


Yours sincerely,

Kezia DugdaleScottish Labour Leader


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Joan McAlpine MSPUnit 7High StreetLoreburne Shopping CentreDumfriesDG1 2BD


Dear Joan



Ant i-austeri ty, which means invest ing, nourishing the econom y andencouraging econom ic act iv i ty w il l , as the Deputy First Minister says,

increase the tax take. If we cut sp ending and reduce econom ic act iv i ty,

we inhibi t the income from tax and we have to borrow mo re as a

cons equence. That is the lesson that Roosevelt and Maynard K eynes

taught us many decades ago, and it is why George Osbornes austerityhas failed.

I know you will also be concerned about the cuts which are coming to theconstituents you represent. The estimated cuts to Scottish Borders, South Ayrshireand Dumfries and Galloway Councils are 34.7m. As your SNP colleagues in localgovernment have said, these are cuts that will hurt everyone.



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Even for someone earning around the average wage, t

Kezia Dugdale writes to SNP MSPs

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