4 June 2017

The summer holidays are just around the corner, and with that can mean a real squeeze on household budgets, especially for the poorest families.

Earlier this week the Evening Times reported that parents were skipping meals during the holidays to feed their own children.

That’s why Labour has a plan for a school holiday grant which would help nearly a quarter of a million Scottish children.

The grant would be a £100 payment, per child, to the poorest families at the beginning of the summer holidays and over Christmas, and would be available from the birth of the child till they were sixteen.

School Holiday Grant: the numbers

– £100 paid twice a year at the start of the summer and Christmas holidays
– 150,000 families would benefit
– 237,000kids would be better off

Scottish Labour would give a twice-yearly £100 seasonal grant to families who qualify for free school meals extended to include pre-schoolers in low income families, to help them out at these expensive times of the year.

You can read our plans to tackle child poverty in full here.

Here’s what Kez has to say about the grant:

"Labour's plans for school holiday grants could have a transformational effect for the poorest families.  The school holidays are just around the corner and they can hit family finances hard.

"That's why Labour would put more money into the pockets of working class families.

"That's the kind of change Labour can deliver. That's why on June 8 people should elect Labour MPs fighting for working class families, not SNP MPs who will only fight for another referendum."

Like our plan? Then help spread our message.
 

THE TIDE IS TURNING AGAINST THE NATIONALISTS – ALISTAIR DARLING

The tide is turning against the Nationalists as more and more voters demand they get back to the day job instead of campaigning for another divisive independence referendum, Alistair Darling said.

The former Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of the successful Better Together campaign spoke with voters in East Renfrewshire today, where Labour candidate Blair McDougall is best placed to defeat the SNP.

While Nationalists marched in Glasgow in support of another divisive independence referendum, Labour stepped up its campaign against more SNP attempts to divide the country.

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer and leader of Better Together Alistair Darling said:

"The tide is turning against the Nationalists. More and more people across Scotland just want the SNP to get on with the day job, and drop its plans for another unwanted and unnecessary referendum. 

"On June 8 voters can back a local Labour champion who will fight for better schools and hospitals, or an SNP candidate who will spend every day campaigning for another divisive independence referendum."

Blair McDougall said:

"At the last General Election it was a straight contest between Labour and the SNP in East Renfrewshire. Despite rejecting nationalism in 2014 by overwhelmingly voting to remain in the UK, our area is represented by the SNP because the pro-Union vote was split.

"If voters in East Renfrewshire want to send Nicola Sturgeon a message that we don't want another divisive independence referendum then they have to vote Labour on June 8."

More than a quarter of a million kids in Scotland live in poverty.

We think that’s a national scandal, so today we are launching a manifesto exclusively on tackling child poverty.

The facts: child poverty in Scotland

– 260,000 kids live in poverty in Scotland
– That’s a 40,000 increase on last year
– 70 per cent of kids in poverty are in working families
– 467,000 Scots earn less than the living wage 

Here are just 5 things from our plan that will make a difference:

1. Boosting Child Benefit by £240 a year by the end of the decade
2. A £10 minimum wage
3. Doubling the Sure Start maternity grant to £1,030
4. A twice a year ‘seasonal grant’ for the poorest families
5. Building 60,000 new homes, including 45,000 for social rent

This is the difference Labour can make by focusing on ending child poverty, not a second divisive independence referendum that the majority of Scots don’t want.

We can make these changes at Holyrood and Westminster

A UK Labour government will deliver a £10 minimum wage and end austerity across the UK.

But we can make different choices at the Scottish Parliament too. Labour’s plan to boost Child Benefit by £240 a year by the end of the decade is something we can deliver with the new powers of the Scottish Parliament.

The SNP and the Tories should be focused on cutting child poverty, not a second independence referendum or a hard Brexit.

The SNP and the Tories are both focused on dividing our society – be it through an unwanted and unnecessary second independence referendum in the case of Nicola Sturgeon, or further austerity with Theresa May.

Only Labour will focus on ending child poverty and deliver a government for the many, not the few.

You can read our full plan here.

30 May 2017

The SNP is taking cynical campaigning to a new level during this General Election.

Here is a leaflet the SNP is delivering across Scotland:

But the reality is that the SNP has been found out after a decade of failure. Here's the truth the SNP won't tell you…

In seats across Scotland, including Edinburgh South, it is only Labour that can beat the SNP.

As our new advert shows, the Tories just aren’t at the races – and a vote for them or the LibDems will just let the SNP in.

By backing Labour on June 8, voters can tell Nicola Sturgeon to drop her plans for a divisive second independence referendum.

Labour will never support independence and every Labour MP elected will fight the SNP’s unwanted plan to break up Britain.

A vote for the Tories or the Lib Dems will simply let the SNP in and embolden Nicola Sturgeon. Only by voting Labour on June 8 can we defeat the SNP.