Scottish Government must work smarter in face of Westminster ‘cuts’ – Swinney

The Scottish Government will need to work “harder and smarter” to deliver for the people in the face of Westminster “cuts”, First Minister John Swinney will warn today.

But with ending child poverty one of his key priorities, he will tell how his Government will “tailor support better to families” so they can “get the help they need”.

While this will not have the same “immediate impact” as ending the two-child cap on some benefits – something Labour has said it does not have the money to do – Mr Swinney will describe the move as an “an example of the sustained, smarter policy-making we are delivering in government”.

He will make the remarks as he addresses the SNP conference in Edinburgh on Sunday – making his first keynote conference address since becoming SNP leader and Scottish First Minister back in May.

The conference, however, comes in the wake of a bruising general election for the SNP, which saw its tally of MPs drop from 48 in 2019 to just nine.

Mr Swinney has already accepted it was a “bad election” for his party.

But he will use his closing address to the conference to set out his priorities for the Scottish Government.

With MSPs returning to Holyrood this week, the First Minister will formally set out his legislative plans for the coming year in the programme for government on Wednesday.

Ahead of that, he will use his conference speech to set his focus on delivering what he sees as the “people’s priorities”: ending child poverty; reaching net-zero; delivering strong public services; and boosting  the economy.

However, Mr Swinney will say: “In an era of Westminster cuts, we are going to have to work harder, and smarter, if we are to deliver on our ambitions for Scotland.”

He will promise to, next week, “set out how we can tailor support better to families ensuring they get the help they need, when they need it, to lift those families out of poverty”.

The First Minister will concede that “this support – this whole-family support – will not have the immediate impact of ending the two-child cap”.

But he will state: “It is an example of the sustained, smarter policy-making we are delivering in government.”

He will also promise that “even in the toughest of financial circumstances, the SNP will do everything we can to give every single child the best possible start in life”.

Mr Swinney will also restate his desire for politics to be “less polarised” as he commits again to “work to bring our country together” and to “serve everyone who chooses to make Scotland their home”.

While parts of England saw riots in the wake of the killing of three young girls in Southport, Mr Swinney will say those events were the result of “far right, Islamophobic and racist thugs trying to stoke division”.

As a result, he will say how “people fleeing oppression overseas feared for their lives in the United Kingdom” – adding that while the “expected and deserved sanctuary” they had “ended up under attack”.

Migrants have enriched our country in so many ways. Refugees are welcome here

Mr Swinney will say: “People applying for asylum should never have to face that – they should feel safe – they should not feel fearful.”

He will tell how in the wake of the riots he “reached out and I heard first hand” from leading figures in various religious communities.

The SNP leader will go on the pledge: “This party will never denigrate people who honour us by choosing to make Scotland their home.

“Migrants have enriched our country in so many ways. Refugees are welcome here.

“And whether it is anti-Semitism, Islamophobia or any form of prejudice, the SNP will always stand up for a country free of hatred and intolerance.”

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said: “John Swinney is right when he says the Scottish Government should serve all those who make Scotland their home but, while NHS waiting lists grow, our school children struggle and he cuts funding to frontline local services, he is failing them.”

She insisted: “After almost two decades of SNP misrule our NHS is on its knees and our public services are at breaking point.

“Quite simply, the SNP’s stewardship is failing Scotland.

“This is a Government that has completely lost its way and we are all paying the price for its incompetence.”