Scotland’s “political elite” have been urged to get on with a plan to protect people’s jobs.
As the first day of debate in Holyrood on another independence referendum came to a close, GMB Scotland said the majority of Scots simply wanted some stability in their working lives.
The union’s Scotland secretary Gary Smith said: “It seems Scotland’s political elite are more than happy to have a two-day debate on another referendum but won’t spend ten minutes of their time on finding answers to our country’s growing jobs crisis.
“It’s an inconvenient truth that Scotland has lost over 40,000 council jobs since 2010 and nearly 40,000 manufacturing jobs since 2007, yet a core argument for a Scottish Parliament was to ensure the decimation of employment under Thatcher wouldn’t be repeated.”
The intervention came as Nicola Sturgeon sought Holyrood’s backing to call for the power to put the independence question to the people again.
Meanwhile, a petition calling for a second vote to be blocked has now passed more than 200,000 signatures.
It argues that another poll “should not be allowed to happen” and says people in Scotland are “fed up of persecution by the SNP leader who is solely intent on getting independence at any cost”.
Last year, the first minister suggested wealth was less important for Scotland than self-governance.
In an article to mark the second anniversary of the 2014 poll, she wrote: “The case for full self-government ultimately transcends the issues of Brexit, of oil, of national wealth and balance sheets and of passing political fads and trends.”
The petition, which is on the UK Parliament website, will receive an official response from the UK Government and be considered for debate at Westminster.
