3 May 2017
The SNP has been attacked for a “decade of failure” – on the day it marks 10 years in government.
The nationalists came to power on May 3, 2007, but their time in charge has been marred by a range of failures across devolved areas of responsibility.
Today, the Scottish Conservatives are releasing 51 pledges made in manifestos since 2007 that have been broken by the Scottish Government.
These failures are compounded by an education system in decline, an NHS in crisis and an economy which consistently lags behind the rest of the UK’s, and is currently on the brink of slipping back into recession.
On education, the SNP promised it would reduce class sizes, improve performance in the respected global PISA survey and cut the pupil-to-teacher ratio – all of which it has failed to do.
On health, there have been pledges to reduce the number of anti-depressants prescribed, introduce a maximum 18-week wait for treatment and increase early detection of cancer by a quarter – none of which have been met.
In addition, promises on reducing paperwork for farmers, the building of socially-rented houses and scrapping the council tax have also been broken.
Scottish Conservative shadow finance secretary Murdo Fraser said:
“The SNP is marking its 10th birthday in government – but there is nothing to celebrate.
“Instead, the nationalists can reflect on a decade of failure, dozens of broken promises and a country licking its wounds from a divisive separation debate.
“It’s a shameful record, and one that’s getting worse by the day.
“This is powerful evidence that a party in government obsessed by nothing other than the break-up of Britain is bad for Scotland.
“While Nicola Sturgeon, and Alex Salmond before her, have been focusing all their attention on the constitution, our schools, hospitals, police service and economy have suffered badly.
“The SNP should use this landmark to reflect on its terrible governance of Scotland, and vow to get back to the day job of running the country properly.”
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