Kezia Dugdale says SNP 'neglect' has lead to lost generation of Scottish children
Education and mental health are among the issues party leaders will highlight as they continue General Election campaigning across Scotland.
Education and mental health are among the issues party leaders will highlight as they continue General Election campaigning across Scotland.
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale will be in Fife where she will argue that an “obsession” with independence has led to a “lost generation” in Scottish schools.
Ms Dugdale will visit Better World Books in Dunfermline where she will say Scotland has 4,000 fewer teachers and 1,000 fewer school support staff since the SNP came to office in 2007.
Schools are facing 700 vacancies, growing class sizes and declining standards in reading and writing, she will argue.
Speaking ahead of the visit, Ms Dugdale said: “During the SNP's decade of division, we have seen nothing but declining standards and growing class sizes.
“SNP neglect has led to a lost generation of Scottish children who are simply not getting the education they need and deserve.
“Voters in Scotland and across the UK have the chance on June 8 to tell Nicola Sturgeon to stop obsessing about independence and get on with the job of fixing the mess she has made of our schools.”
Ms Sturgeon will say it is the SNP, not Labour, that is leading the UK in implementing “progressive” policies.
She said: “Labour's manifesto leak simply serves to highlight how Scotland is leading the UK - many of the policies which they believe would benefit people in England were introduced by the SNP in Scotland long ago.
“Thanks to the SNP Government in Scotland, the Bedroom Tax has been fully mitigated, tuition fees have been abolished and hospital car parking charges have been scrapped.
“Our renewable electricity generation is way ahead of the UK, and we met our world-leading climate change target of a 42% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 six years early.
“Ironically, many of our policies were implemented in the face of fierce opposition from the Labour party in Scotland.
“One thing we are learning in this campaign is that Scotland is leading the UK in the delivery of many crucial policies, but it's absolutely vital that Scotland is not dragged back by the Tories and their austerity agenda.”
Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie will focus on mental health on a visit Loch Leven Larder in Kinross.
He is expected to say: “It is appalling to learn that children and young people are still waiting almost two years for the mental health treatment they need. Waiting more than 600 days for help must feel like a lifetime. SNP ministers should hang their heads in shame.
“For years, the First Minister has told me time after time of her commitment to mental health, but there is very little evidence of improvement. The urgency and the scale of the investment that we need to see is simply not there.
“Only the Liberal Democrats have set out a comprehensive and positive plan that will deliver a step change in mental health.”