A former deputy first minister has accused the SNP candidate running to replace Alex Salmond of “astonishing gall” after a leaflet was published “claiming the successes” of a previous Scottish Government for the Nationalists.
The leaflet promoting Gillian Martin, who is running for the SNP in Aberdeenshire East, claims the SNP are “making Scotland fairer” by having “scrapped” student fees and fully-funding free personal care for the elderly.
Both policies were originally introduced under the Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition government before the SNP secured power in 2007.
Last night Nicol Stephen, who was a minister between 1999 and 2007, criticised the SNP over the claims in the leaflet, suggesting “they would do much better fixing the things that have happened under their watch”.
But Ms Martin, who has previously come under fire over a series of controversial blog posts, has staunchly defended the leaflet, arguing the graduate endowment charged to students when they left university, which the SNP later scrapped, “is still a fee”.
Lord Stephen, a former leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Aberdeen South MSP, said: “The gall of the SNP is astonishing.
“They should be giving credit where credit’s due, not blatantly claiming the successes of the Liberal Democrats in the previous Scottish Government for themselves.
“They’d do much better fixing the things that have happened under their watch. Many people have to wait weeks just to get an appointment with their GP.
“Over 20,000 college places have been cut in the north-east. And a child or young person living up here with a mental health problem has to travel to Dundee to find a dedicated bed.
“In contrast to the SNP spin, core services in the area, like health and education, are suffering badly – and too much is being centralised to Edinburgh and Glasgow.”
Free nursing and personal care for the elderly was introduced in Scotland in 2002, while yearly tuition fees were scrapped in 2000, although a graduate endowment charge of £2,000 was imposed.
Ms Martin, a prominent figure in the Women for Independence movement who was selected to fight Aberdeenshire East last year, dismissed Lord Stephen’s comments.
She said: “The Labour Party and the Lib Dems put a graduate endowment in place which is still a fee.
“The SNP scrapped it. We have also maintained free personal care for the elderly and will continue to maintain it.”
The other candidates running in Aberdeenshire East are the Liberal Democrats’ Christine Jardine, the Conservatives’ Colin Clark and Labour’s Sarah Flavell.
