The UK Tory government’s record has been nothing short of disastrous.
The hard Brexit Scotland never voted for. Our fisheries sector betrayed again. Partying in Downing Street while the rest of us stuck to the rules over lockdown.
Cutting Universal Credit by £20 a week, pulling as many as 800,000 people into poverty. Raising National Insurance just as millions of households are feeling the squeeze from soaring prices.
The list goes on and on, from scandal after scandal to policies that hit the most vulnerable in the country.
Scotland’s council elections this Thursday are our opportunity to cast a vote for SNP councillors who’ll work tirelessly for local communities and local services. It’s also our opportunity to cast a verdict on Tory lies, failure, cronyism, and hypocrisy.
The north-east has been treated particularly appallingly by the Tories, with people who live there being robbed of around £1.8 billion by a trail of broken promises.
One billion pounds of investment in carbon capture – vanished. Five hundred million pounds to match the Scottish Government’s just transition investment – failed to materialise.
Match funding on city deals to the tune of £254 million – disappeared. And, now, the region is set to lose out on a further £13.5 million because of Brexit.
Every SNP councillor will also be a champion for the north-east, fighting for investment in a just transition that will boost jobs and make Aberdeen a global, sustainable energy powerhouse for the future
Enough is enough. The last thing families across places like the north-east, Inverness and Moray need are councillors excusing and protecting Boris Johnson and the broken, corrupt Westminster system that is failing our communities.
It’s time for fresh thinking and new leadership with the SNP in Aberdeen.
We can send a political shock wave through Downing Street
The priority of every SNP councillor elected this week will be supporting families through the current cost of living crisis – not just in words, but in action – working tirelessly for local communities and local services.
Every SNP councillor will also be a champion for the north-east, fighting for investment in a just transition that will boost jobs and make Aberdeen a global, sustainable energy powerhouse for the future. And we’ll fight to put right more than a decade of Tory cuts, contempt, and broken promises.
It’s clear it is only the SNP who will stand up to the toxic Tories. Aberdeen knows all too well that Labour is happy to stand shoulder to shoulder with Boris Johnson’s party, which is proving so disastrous for so many.
On Thursday, we can send a political shock wave through Downing Street. And we can get a better deal for the north-east and our Highlands.
We have the opportunity to put the Tories under real pressure to act to help struggling families. Only SNP votes will have that impact – as only the SNP can be trusted to stand up to the Tories and lock them out of our council chambers.
Nicola Sturgeon is first minister of Scotland, leader of the SNP and MSP for Glasgow Southside
Conversation