GORDON Brown has attacked the SNP government's record on child poverty – prompting accusations that he should apologise to Scots for his role in keeping the country in the Union.
The former prime minister, who joined Anas Sarwar at a drive-in rally, said the SNP should stand aside for Labour after 14 years in power.
He pointed to what he described as failings of the Scottish Government in employment, healthcare and education as reasons to vote for Scottish Labour, though polls predict the party will still be in third place come next week.
The comments sparked a fierce response from the SNP, who condemned Brown for campaigning to “keep key powers over poverty in the hands of the Tories at Westminster”.
The former PM told supporters: "If the SNP could not solve the health problem, the waiting list problem, the mental health problem, the social care problem in any one of the 14 years in government, they will never solve the problem now. That's why they should give way to the Labour Party, who can do it."
"It's not just a health crisis, it's the education crisis."
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her ministers have pointed to improvements in some areas when it comes to the attainment gap, but an Audit Scotland report published in March found the gap remains wide despite some progress being made.
Brown continued: "Every indicator that should be going up is going down and every indicator that should be going down is going up.
"If they can't solve the education problem in 14 years in government, make way for the Labour Party who can."
READ MORE: Anas Sarwar tells Labour voters he ‘will be First Minister’ in five years
On child poverty, Brown said: "Poverty is not just a scandal – for children it is a crime."
He added that Nicola Sturgeon's party "go to bed at night dreaming of separation, we go to bed at night dreaming of social justice".
SNP candidate Shirley-Anne Somerville, who served as Social Security Secretary in the last Parliament, hit back at the former Labour leader.
She said: “The only thing people in Scotland want to hear from Gordon Brown is an apology for his campaigning so vocally in 2014 to keep key powers over poverty in the hands of the Tories at Westminster.
“As a result, we’ve had years of Tory austerity and welfare cuts inflicted on us, we’ve been dragged out of the EU against our will, and now we have Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.”
Somerville added: “Child poverty in Scotland – while still too high – is significantly lower than in other parts of the UK. We’ve created a raft of new Best Start Grants to provide one-off payments to eligible families in the early stages in a child’s life, and we introduced the Scottish Child Payment – described as a ‘game-changer’ in the fight against child poverty – which we will double if re-elected.
“But as long as people like Gordon Brown are campaigning to leave the key levers in the hands of the Tories at Westminster, we’ll be fighting issues like child poverty with one hand tied behind our backs."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel