SCOTLAND’S Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth called out Unionist MSPs over the impact of Westminster cuts in a debate on free school meals in Scotland.
SNP ministers have so far delivered free school meals for pupils in primary years one to five, with former first minister Humza Yousaf previously committing to making them universal.
But that move was scrapped last week in the Programme for Government as a result of funding issues, leading to a debate on Wednesday – brought forward by the Scottish Conservatives – with opposition parties urging the Scottish Government to U-turn on the move.
MSPs from both the Scottish Conservative and Scottish Labour went on the attack in the Holyrood chamber.
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“By axing the universal rollout of free school meals in primary schools, the SNP have shamefully betrayed Scotland’s poorest pupils,” Scottish Tory education spokesperson Liam Kerr claimed.
However, Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer called out Kerr for "hypocrisy", saying that the Tories were looking to "pick and choose" when to support anti-poverty measures.
Labour’s education spokesperson 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”.
Gilruth, meanwhile, didn’t hold back in response and said “context matters”.
“A block grant cut for capital of nearly 9%, meaning £1.3 billion less for Scotland,” she added – before noting that she heard unionist parties “heckling” her.
“This is their Union,” she blasted back.
“They should take ownership of these cuts coming to Scotland, cuts that we're having to fund to mitigate Westminster austerity, on things like the bedroom tax, inflationary pressures largely driven by Liz Truss’s disastrous 49 days in office.”
Gilruth then started to talk again about “context” before then noting “anger” from the Tory benches.
“This is their Union,” she repeated. “They should own it. Because that context is what the Unionist parties have bequeathed to the children of Scotland.
“The Scottish Government is in a financial straitjacket and there is never a scintilla of recognition that maybe, just maybe, decisions taken elsewhere are harming the decisions taken in this parliament.”
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