So, what can we look forward to?
Scottish National Investment Bank will be set up.
There will be a public sector rail bid.
There will be an investment in electric cars. This will including looking at getting charging points up and running (and particularly at how to provide them outside blocks of flats) and with a target of 2032 for all new sales to be electric or hybrid.
Good start?
So then, as already announced, the public sector pay cap will go. (I believe Mrs May is doing this in England too).
Free sanitary products will be provided in schools and there will be research into the possibility of making them free for everyone.
Free personal care will be extended to under 65s.
A South of Scotland Enterprise board will be set up and there will be investment in manufacturing and R&D.
Money will be provided for research into providing a universal basic income, currently being trialed in areas of Finland, Canada, and the Netherlands.
The Land Reform Commission will consider a land value tax.
There will be an investment in carbon capture technology.
There should be a presumption against jail sentences of under 12 months. Other punishments will be preferred, leaving prison for more serious offenders.
A fund set up for action on homelessness.
A Local Democracy Bill
Other plans, already announced, include increasing carers allowance in Scotland to the same level as Job Seekers’ Allowance, a funeral grant (means-tested) so that the poorest can afford a decent funeral. The baby box and help for the poorest when their children start school.
And Sarwar, the branch manager elect(?) (Jackie Baillie says the SNP are terrified of him…remember like they said we were of Six-Month Murphy!!!) says it’s the same old tired stuff??
I’m seriously surprised that Labour can suggest that the SNP is doing nothing to mitigate Tory austerity. If you add the above package to the extra help with rent and the abolition of the hated bedroom tax… well, it’s just a lie.
I read somewhere that Willie Rennie had whined that the SNP was still obsessed with the Constitution, although I don’t remember it dominating the FM’s speech today. (Ironic given that the Constitution is almost the only thing that the British government is occupying itself with. The great repeal bill will take most of parliament’s time in the coming year, even though most of it won’t ever be seen by the Commons or Lords. Ministers will use royal prerogative to make changes they see fit. So much for taking back control, eh?
Come on, let’s have some serious opposition that will help improve the policies of the SNP, not this idiotic carping at everything, no matter how inaccurate it is as long as it criticises the SNP.
https://www.snp.org/the_snp_scottish_government_s_programme_for_government
MUNGUIN'S NEW REPUBLIC 
He’s well named – An Arse Sarwar: that is right, isn’t it?
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Fair pronunciation…
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He’s a Tory, pure and simple.
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Yeah, I think so. Another Jim Murphy.
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Am I correct in saying that he once called Holyrood a “dictatorship”? I’ve also seem him described as “centrist” in the sort of newspaper that imagines Corbyn is some kind of militant leftie. In other words, yes, he’s a Blairite, a Tory, and I’d add that has has about as much principle in his makeup as Jim Murphy, i.e., approximately zero. Glasgow Rotten Old / New Labour – does that make any sense?
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Yes, you are right. That was before he needed a job in it. Presumably he had not thought it a dictatorship when his mates in New Labour set it up, nor when, as expected, over the first two parliaments, they dominated with the Liberal Democrats.
It was odd coming from an MP elected under FPTP, in a parliament that includes unelected peers, churchmen and aristocrats, a royal family and the privy council: a parliament which is about to start a process where legislation will be introduced to English, Scots and Northern Irish laws by ministers acting on royal prerogative, in a Henry VIII style.
He seems to be of the type that complains about the SNP not doing enough to alleviate the suffering caused by the Tories’ austerity for the poor, whilst voting for it.
Bring it on!
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Anas…..”Ah kent his faither”. Another millionare pretending to be a socialist.
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Exactly, Bill.
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Hasn’t Nicola got nice legs – all three of them?
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I wondered where that had come from, but I didn’t like to comment… unlike some people, I might add.
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https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/05/nicola-sturgeon-time-is-right-to-consider-raising-taxes-in-scotland
Not in Alex Salmonds name
Sturgeon sought to sidestep Scottish Labour, the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Greens by offering to start talks on raising taxes. All three opposition parties have called for a new top rate of income tax of at least 50p.
She invited them to talk about tax changes before this year’s draft budget is published in November, and promised to publish a detailed paper analysing the tax system and the impact of opposition proposals.
[How to guide ministers to making the right decisions]
Sir Humphrey: If you want to be really sure that the Minister doesn’t accept it, you must say the decision is “courageous”.
Bernard: And that’s worse than “controversial”?
Sir Humphrey: Oh, yes! “Controversial” only means “this will lose you votes”. “Courageous” means “this will lose you the election”!
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Well, when the Tories reduced the tax on the higher earners, the SNP did not.
This led to newspapers screeching that Scotland was the highest taxed place in the UK. The fact that it wasn’t true didn’t much matter.
The tax changes have left the Scottish government in a situation where it can raise income tax, but where it cannot alter any other large tax (like VAT or Duty) to balance. Nor can it raise the threshold at which the poor pay tax.
I take it you don’t approve of any of the measures in the statement?
SNP bad no matter what they do?
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poor poor snp (a single tear runs down side of face )
can’t do anything cos of wicked westmonster(after
10 years a decade of being in unchallenged power)
unfortunatley that wont wash they could if they
wanted to much more. They could of raised income
Tax at any time They chose not to.
Even now due to fear they attempt badly
to drag thier enemies in the other political
partys at Holyrood into the decision in a vain
immoral hope that if it goes tits up all
partys take a hit.
Not a very brave policy move for
a party who have been in power for
ten years a long long ten years.
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Niko
If you could draw up a programme for the SNP and they followed it to the letter – would they still be bad?
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Good question JGalt.
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yes they would
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Honest answer, thanks.
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In what way would you have changed the taxes, Niko? Or indeed done other than the SNP has done.
Let’s hear Niko’s plan for Scotland…
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With independence, Scotland could set ALL TAXES, collect ALL TAXES and SPEND ALL TAXES as the government of the d.ay saw fit
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Where the heck would we be without Nicola, and the S.N.P. Her speech yesterday was a perfect response to all the baseless allegations that she should ” get on with the day job”.
And why do we have so many fifth columnists in our midst? For the life of me I cannot understand people who are so quick to tell us they are “proud Scots”, and yet are ready at every media opportunity, and there are plenty afforded to them, to denigrate a leader, and a political party, who are doing their best for Scotland, and its people.
I believe it was R.B.C. Graham who said that it wouldn’t be the English who would prevent us being an independent nation, it would be the Scots. And by god there are plenty in this land who are certainly trying to make his words come true.
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Corinthians Chap 13 verse 12: “For now we see through a glass, darkly;
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Ah Niko, have you seen the light?
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Just keep drinking, Niko, and when you get to the bottom you’ll see through the glass clearly. I can recommend it!
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It’s (as Mr Trump would say) SAD to see all the negativity.
Opponents’ arguments are much more credible when they are not afraid to praise what is good.
It’s hard to believe that any government only ever does bad stuff (although Tessy’s making a fair bash at it).
Criticism is valid at times, but surely not for everything, and in the scribblings of these anti SNP journalists you can just see the utter hatred dripping.
They are writing for an audience that wants to hear this, in order to sell papers. Simple. It pretty much invalidates everything they say.
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On a more positve note see the Tory scum
have binned the gerrymandering of westminster
oops typo westmonster better
the snp wont be wiped out at the next real
as opposed to the pretendy Holyrood election.
there you go much more positive
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You can guarantee that if it was a Westminster Tory promise, it is dead in teh water.
I see that Murdo has been sending sectarian tweets again. I wonder if he’s going to have to go through the pretence of diversity training.
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Heads up.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2017/09/save-craig-murray/
The brass neck of the Daily Mail is beyond belief.
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Agreed. Done and now on Facebook and Twitter.
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The Scotsman is now using Disqus for comments, I note there’s a “Jon Brownlie” on there, I’m going to dig out my old Telegraph account 😉
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Not our John Brownlie, surely?
My god, the Telegraph. Who reads that these days?
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It was purely to comment on the comedy gold which is Alan Cochrane.
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LOL. now he IS a laff.
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the brass neck of conan whinging about the daily mail
brass neck is the most brass neck thing since whenever
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So you like the fascist, racist, sexist and sectarian Daily Mail then Niko?
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you old fool conan lol
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I’m quite sure the irony of you posting that passed over your head…
Incidentally, I once got mistaken for Michael McDonald outside a pub in Edinburgh.
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Doobie Brothers?
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It’s anti SNP. Of course he does.
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Apparently. I would have thought that rejecting the ” fascist, racist, sexist and sectarian Daily Mail”, might not be a road less traveled. Well’ at least amongst liberals. with a small ‘l’.
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Aren’t they the paper that the Hopkins person writes for?
Cockroaches indeed?
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when?
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When my now Gandalf like locks were merely grey, and my beard was black. I dunno, twenty five years ago?
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I do not agree Niko. Anyone that supports the Daily Mail is either diverted by celebrity in place of reason, thinks that who Joe screws is actually important, or forgets their black shirt supporting past. Or is unable to see propaganda as editorial and ‘news’.
(Joe is a made up name.)
Labour fought against the black-shirts that the Daily Mail supported? Where, or when, did Labour lose it’s identity?
You are some confused guy.
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Incidentally, there are enough ways of attacking Anas Sarwar without playing childish and stupid games with his name. This is a pathetic and frankly counter-productive attack on a man who has a lot to answer for.
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Playing around with his name is silly and insulting. Probably borderline racist. We don’t do that.
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