A preschool age child playing with plastic building blocks
SCOTTISH Labour has pledged to offer two free weeks of holiday clubs for children over the summer holidays should it win power in May.
The offer comes just weeks after SNP leader John Swinney unveiled a £500 million plan to expand support for childcare to the age of 12 and for 52 weeks of the year.
But according to Labour, their plan would only require extra funding to councils already providing holiday clubs.
On a visit to a Lanarkshire youth club yesterday, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar described his offer as “practical help for working families,” adding: “For too many working parents, the summer holidays are not a break.
“They are a source of stress, worry and extra cost.
“The SNP has made promise after promise on childcare, but too many families are still left to patch things together and pay the price.”
Mairi McAllan, SNP candidate for Clydesdale, said: “We are offering 52 weeks’ support, Labour are offering two.
“While Anas Sarwar plays catch-up, our offer to every single Scottish family is childcare which fits around families’ needs.”
Having endured 14 years of Tory austerity followed by Starmerite cuts, young voters are desperate for change — but Anas Sarwar’s refusal to differentiate from Westminster means Scottish Labour risks electoral catastrophe, writes LAUREN HARPER