THE SNP Scottish government has crashed to two defeats in one day after MSPs rejected their plans to bring back peak rail fares and abandon rollout of free school dinners.
Kevin Lindsay, Scottish organiser with rail union Aslef, branded the plan to ditch the £40 million pilot of flat fares on Scotland’s railways as “a disastrous, short-sighted decision” — a view shared by Holyrood, which voted 64 to 62 to keep them.
Despite opposition from rail unions and all but SNP MSPs however, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop’s plans plough on.
She argued that “the 10 per cent increase [in patronage] needed to make the scheme self-financing” was not achieved.
Slamming the move, Mr Lindsay said: “How on Earth can Scotland meet its climate targets if it makes rail travel, the most environmentally sustainable way to travel, unaffordable for huge swathes of the population?”
“Peak fares are no more than a tax on workers.
“At a time when personal finances are already under considerable pressure, this decision will hit workers hard.
“The knock-on effect will be less disposable income for workers to spend in their local areas, which will harm businesses and local economies across Scotland.”
STUC deputy general secretary Dave Moxham said: “It’s inexplicable in the extreme quite why the Scottish government are derailing even further their anti-poverty and green economic strategies with the reintroduction of peak fares.
“Fares in parts of our network are set to almost double with this stealth tax on workers who are doing nothing more than simply trying to get to their work.”
One other Holyrood vote John Swinney’s SNP administration plans to ignore is MSPs’ rejection of his abandonment of a long-standing policy to give all primary-age children free school meals by extending it to P6 and P7, announced in last week’s programme for government.
Once again, 64 MSPs from across the Labour, Tory, Green and Lib Dem groups voted to keep plans to extend provision, while 60 SNP members abstained and two voted against.
Labour’s education spokeswoman Pam Duncan-Glancy accused the government of being a “barrier to opportunity,” adding that “people are sick of being promised stuff they don’t get.”
Her Scottish Green counterpart Ross Greer suggested freezing spending on trunk roads and motorways, and “scaling back tax breaks on shooting estates” to find the cash to deliver on universal free school meals policy.
SNP Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth told Parliament she shared “disappointment” that the plans had been ditched.
Her amendment aimed to “provide the necessary financial context” to the decision and blamed the “austerity agenda” of the previous Conservative and current Labour UK governments, adding that the universal rollout would cost £256m.
STUC general secretary Roz Foyer commented: “The government has been shamed today. It’s inexcusable.
“The Scottish government was leading the way in tackling this and ensuring every child, no matter their background, had the same opportunities as any other, but they must now carry the can for their shocking broken promise to our kids.”
