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First Minister says uncertainty damaging for NEETs |
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Monday, 16 April 2007 |
Young people who have grown up in poverty and who are not in education, employment and training “can’t afford four years of uncertainty” under the SNP, First Minister Jack McConnell said today.
Nicola Sturgeon, SNP deputy leader, retorted by saying that the “sad
reality” was that nearly a million Scots are living in poverty under
Labour.
“Jack McConnell has had his chance to improve Scotland and failed.
Scotland needs a new government and new powers so that we can mobilise
our nation’s wealth and opportunities, solve the deep seated social and
economic problems we still face, and build a more successful Scotland.”
Speaking at a Scottish Council for Development and Industry event,
McConnell also said that his plans for skills academies, which have
been criticised in some quarters, had been prompted by some excellent
examples across Scotland such as in Stornoway and at Edinburgh’s
Telford College.
He said that vocational education in the Western Isles had helped
truants who might have otherwise be going out on the street and causing
trouble.
The First Minister also attacked the other parties for failing to
address the under-achievement of children who are cared for by the
state, and said that this was a major issue for him. He also emphasised
Labour’s commitment to free school meals for children of the “working
poor”.
He defended the status quo when it came to fiscal powers for Scotland,
saying that he thought the Barnett Formula was sustainable, and
stressing that independence would not give Scotland access to the main
economic levers.
He also said that he was right to stand by Scottish Enterprise when it
came under attack in the past, stating that there was consensus across
Scotland that the organisation had moved in the right direction. “We
have attracted some of the biggest international projects to Scotland
in the last 12 months.”
No one has commented on this article.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 18 April 2007 )
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