Leishman: Labour plans will be 'transformative' for Wee County

Alloa and Grangemouth Labour MP Brian Leishman said the New Deal for Working People will give people a wage “they can genuinely live on” after the King’s Speech last week outlined plans for the incoming UK Government.

However, Clackmannanshire and Dunblane SNP MSP Keith Brown remained unimpressed, saying the plans are “lacking in real change”.

Some 39 bills were outlined in the speech that ministers will be looking to pass and the government also announced the creation of a child poverty taskforce among other measures.

However, there was no mention of any scrapping of the two child benefit cap.

Mr Brown said: “These plans are truly timid, particularly given the size of the majority the Labour party were given, sadly lacking in the real change that was promised throughout the election campaign and that is sorely needed to counteract the impact of the cost of living crisis and the consequences of Brexit.

“There certainly wasn’t much that will be of immediate and meaningful benefit to my constituents in Clackmannanshire and Dunblane.

“There was a mish-mash of stuff that was coming anyway through cross-party agreement, a commitment to bringing rail operators into public ownership – we have done that in Scotland already – but the glaring gap was the absence of any mention of removing the two child cap for benefit payments.”

He added this was a “total abandonment of some of those in our society most in need of support”.

However, Mr Leishman – who made tackling child poverty a priority – refuted the rhetoric and explained the direction the Labour government wants to take “will be transformative” for many across Clacks.

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He said: “Our New Deal for Working People is life changing. It will lift workers out of daily struggle and give people more secure rights at work with a wage they can genuinely live on.

“The consequences of that will mean the end of in-work poverty. 

“In-work poverty is a result of working people suffering at the hands of a Tory government that has overseen disastrous economic policy coupled with the SNP Scottish Government embarking on relentless cuts to local government, impacting councils’ ability to provide the vital services communities rely on.

“Let’s also not forget that the SNP in Holyrood could mitigate the two child cap but they haven’t. Instead, they’ve concentrated on badly written legislation that people don’t want.

“It’s the result of Tory and SNP austerity that this Labour government is trying to sort and alongside the New Deal, the creation of GB Energy will lower people’s bills, create tens of thousands of skilled and well paid jobs while improving our energy security.

“There’s nothing timid about the Labour government’s plans for improving society and revitalising our economy and communities.

“People voted for change at the ballot box on July 4 and what was announced in the King’s Speech will deliver the transformative change people voted for.”