Borders’ parliamentarians Rachael Hamilton MSP and John Lamont MP have welcomed new and ambitious policies set out by Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross MP in his speech to their annual conference.
In the virtual conference which took place between Saturday and Monday, Ross called for a ‘skills revolution’ to rebuild Scotland after the Covid-19 pandemic, which would include a £500 ‘Retrain to Rebuild’ grant for people to learn new skills.
The scheme would help those who are currently unemployed, anyone facing redundancy, and workers earning less than £30,000. Up to 100,000 Scots could be helped by the scheme in its first two years.
Douglas Ross also announced a ‘catch-up plan’ in the form of a tutoring programme for children affected by the pandemic, and an additional 3,000 new teachers for schools.
Included in the policy announcements were commitments to provide a new funding model for local councils and additional infrastructure investment.
Mr Ross also announced that a vote of no confidence in First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will also be tabled by the Scottish Conservatives this week in the Scottish Parliament.
Both Mrs Hamilton and Mr Lamont are clear that a vote for the Scottish Conservatives in the upcoming election is a vote to deny the SNP a majority and another independence referendum.
Rachael Hamilton MSP said:
“Douglas Ross has the strength to stand up to Nicola Sturgeon and expose the SNP sleaze and dishonesty.
“After 14 years of a SNP Government, Scotland deserves much better.
“They are worn out and lack the ambition to drive forward Scotland’s Covid recovery.
“The Scottish Conservatives have a wealth of policies which all promote job creation, retraining, upskilling and will have the economy firing on all cylinders.
“A vote for the Scottish Conservatives in May will stop a SNP majority and prevent dragging us all back into the arguments of 2014.
“We need to end the division, focus on recovery and build back better.”
John Lamont MP said:
“Whilst the SNP’s focus is on another independence referendum, the Scottish Conservatives have set out ambitious plans to help Scotland recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
“The UK continues to make excellent progress on the vaccine rollout but the economic recovery will take longer. This should be the priority of the SNP Government. Not another disruptive independence referendum.
“I believe that people are now sick of this corrupt, sleazy and dishonest SNP Government. We must use the elections in May as an opportunity to check their power.”