Paying what’s owed to those who built our country

Coal miner working at Bilston Glen colliery in Midlothian in May 1971.

This change affects dozens of former mineworkers in Edinburgh South, over 7800 across Scotland and over 110,000 across the UK.

The overall value of the investment reserve fund, which is now being transferred from the government to former pit workers, is over £1 billion. That means a 32 per cent increase to the annual pensions of former mineworkers, or an average of over £1500 a year for each pensioner or dependent.

This change is long overdue and is fantastic news for former mineworkers and their families. It means that the people who built our country – people who worked tough, strenuous jobs in difficult conditions to provide homes and industry with fuel – will get what is rightly owed to them.

This is what Labour governments do. Whether it’s raising the minimum wage, protecting the triple lock for pensioners or providing the Scottish Government with the largest budget settlement in the history of devolution, this Labour Government will protect living standards, invest in public services and improve working conditions. Unfortunately, it seems the £4.9bn extra for the Scottish Government has been squandered in their budget yesterday.

These are just a handful of the changes that we are making for communities in Scotland. At the Scotland Office, our focus has been on resetting the relationship between the UK and Scottish governments, a relationship which, in the Conservative-SNP years, was left to fester and became dysfunctional, with the Scottish people caught in the middle.

Last month, for example, I signed a Scotland Act order to ensure that the Scottish Government’s new Pension Age Disability Payment is recognised in the same way as Attendance Allowance. This ensures that eligible Scots won’t miss out on. This is a clear sign of how we are resetting the relationship with Holyrood and working together to improve things for Scotland.

We have also been focusing on promoting our world-class products and services overseas. Just last week I led a trade visit to Southeast Asia, where we initially focused on Scotland’s educational links in the region. Few people in high office in government or industry hand not been educated in the UK and Scotland.

I visited Heriot Watt’s campus in Malaysia, where I heard from students about the opportunities they’ve had as a result of their country’s close scholastic ties with Scotland. I was also delighted to sign an exchange agreement between the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, University Kebangsaan Malaysia and University Malaya, which will promote student exchanges between our countries.

We then went to Singapore, where I was thrilled to kickstart Brand Scotland’s official launch at the British High Commission. The event brought together business and sector leaders, with food and drink provided by industry-leaders that showcase the quality of Scotland’s products and services.

It’s been just five months since the election, and with the inheritance we received it was never going to be easy. But after just a few months, we are beginning to see the huge difference Labour in government can make.

Ian Murray is Secretary of State for Scotland