Will SNP austerity hit Edinburgh council’s budget once again? – Ian Murray MP

SNP has cut council budgets by 7 per cent in real terms, yet there has only been a 2 per cent cut in Scottish Government funding over the same period, says Ian Murray.

Derek Mackay will unveil his Scottish Government budget next month. Picture: John Devlin

WHEN he isn’t plotting how to divide communities with another independence referendum, SNP Finance Secretary Derek Mackay is locked in a room deciding how much to cut from Scotland’s councils.

The Finance Secretary will unveil his Scottish Government budget next month, and once again the Nationalists are poised to take a dagger to public services.

Edinburgh City Council is likely to bear the brunt of the SNP cuts.

Ian Murray is the Labour MP for Edinburgh South. Picture: Ian Rutherford

The city council is desperately hunting for savings of up to £40 million in its 2020/21 budget.

This week, this newspaper revealed that sports centres and golf courses could close, with leisure venues across the Capital forced to hike charges and cut their opening hours.

That includes the Gracemount and Jack Kane sports centres in the south of the city, as well as the international climbing arena at Ratho and other sites across Edinburgh.

These kind of cuts are often seen as the easiest to make, rather than other lifeline services which the council provides.

But there is still an impact and it may be a long-term one.

It could harm attempts to improve the physical and mental health of residents, ultimately leading to increased pressure on our over-stretched health service in the future.

The SNP’s vision for Scotland is simply short-sighted.

It has cut council budgets by 7 per cent in real terms between 2013/2014 and 2019/2020, yet before the Nationalists try to blame Westminster, there has only been a 2 per cent cut in Scottish Government funding over the same period.

These cuts are SNP cuts – nobody else’s.

Local government is at breaking point as a result.

When Mr Mackay announces his budget next month, I hope he finally delivers a fair funding deal for our capital city.

But the reality is that he would rather spend money on an unwanted and divisive second independence referendum, to deflect from his party’s record in office.

For all the Nationalist rhetoric about putting power into the hands of the people of Scotland, this country is one of the most centralised In Europe.

Councillors play a critical role in our communities and their job shouldn’t be to make cuts imposed on them by the SNP.

Before being elected as an MP I served as a councillor for seven years, so I know many of the challenges they face and the tough decisions they are facing every day.

One of the reasons I am standing to be Labour’s deputy leader is because I want to deliver reform so that councillors have more power to make decisions locally.

That applies to my party as well, because the only way that Labour can truly respond to the message we were sent at the General Election in December is to listen to local communities – and that listening comes through our local representatives.

I am determined to make sure the Labour Party is a credible alternative government so that we can have a government which supports the work of councillors in our communities.

But the immediate priority is to persuade the SNP to deliver a better deal for our towns and cities.

Edinburgh can’t afford another round of cuts from Derek Mackay.

Ian Murray is the Labour MP for Edinburgh South