MANIFESTO 2021 ”A Bold and Ambitious Policy Programme to Kickstart and Drive Recovery.”
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MANIFESTO 2021 ”A bold and ambitious policy programme to kickstart and drive recovery.” The last year has been the hardest most of us have far - love, compassion and solidarity - should continue to ever experienced. light our path. The Covid pandemic has robbed too many families All that has mattered to me - as your First Minister - has of loved ones, and thousands of people across been doing my level best, each and every day, to steer us Scotland have suffered severe and, in many cases, through the crisis. I know I have made mistakes along the long lasting illness. way - the unprecedented nature of the crisis made that inevitable - but I have also learned from those mistakes Families and friends have spent months apart. So many and I do my best to apply the lessons learned to the of life’s basic pleasures - spending time with those we decisions the government is still taking. love, socialising in cafes, bars and restaurants, going to the gym, visiting the shops or the cinema, even getting a For all these reasons, this election really does matter - haircut - have been taken from us. possibly more than any other in our lifetimes. Children have lost months of normal schooling and At this time of crisis, more than ever, the country needs a missed the company of their friends and classmates. steady and experienced hand at the wheel. Young adults have missed out on the rites of passage If I am re-elected as your First Minister, I promise that associated with their first years of freedom. I and my government - just as we have over the past year - will focus all of our energies on steering the Along the way, many jobs, businesses and livelihoods country safely through and out of this crisis. For me, have been lost or fundamentally altered. there is no greater priority, and I believe that I can The impact of Covid on our health, wellbeing and quality provide the steady and experienced leadership that the of life has been significant and profound. country needs. Over the last year, though, we have also been reminded However, this election is about so much more than the of what really matters in life - health, family, immediate challenges we face. It is also about recovery community, security. and building a fairer country. So many people have played a part in getting us through That is why the SNP is presenting, at this election, a - and I suspect many of us have discovered a resilience transformational policy programme that will we did not even know we had. drive recovery. The frontline workers in our health and care services Policies to protect our NHS and establish a new National obviously fall into this category, but so do the many Care Service. others who have gone to work every day to deliver other Policies to provide opportunities for our young people, lifeline services; and all those who have had to adapt to build a stronger and more sustainable economy and working from home, often home-schooling children at deliver greater job and income security. the same time. And policies to tackle climate change and end We would not have coped either without the thousands child poverty. who volunteered their help - delivering food and We also offer an approach - and a choice for you - that essentials to those shielding or even just checking up on will make us an equal partner with our friends in the rest vulnerable friends and neighbours. of the UK and across Europe. We have all discovered this last year how much we rely We are seeking your permission at this election for an on each other. independence referendum to be held after Covid - when Our scientists have also developed and delivered the crisis has passed but in time for us to equip our vaccines faster than we could have dared hope - the Parliament with the full powers it needs to drive our long debt of gratitude we owe them is incalculable. term recovery from Covid. So as we now, albeit tentatively, start to look beyond As we set about the task of rebuilding our country, the acute phase of Covid and towards our individual and there’s a fundamental question that all of us in Scotland collective recovery, the values that have guided us so must ask ourselves. 2 SNP Manifesto 2021 ”A bold and ambitious policy programme to kickstart and drive recovery.” The answer to this question will define our country’s In summary, what I - and the SNP - offer you at this destiny and determine the life-chances of this and election is this: generations to come. A safe, steady and experienced hand that will continue to Who do we want to be in the driving seat of shaping steer the country through and out of this unprecedented Scotland’s future? crisis we face. Should it be Scottish Governments - of whatever party - A bold and ambitious policy programme to kickstart and elected by the people of Scotland and with the priorities drive recovery. and interests of Scotland at heart? And the choice of a better, fairer, more prosperous future Or Westminster governments that time and again we for our country. have rejected? Let’s build that future together. Will we, the people of Scotland, place trust Thank you. in ourselves? Or will we leave our future in the hands of a Westminster system that is so clearly taking us in the wrong direction? In the depth of crisis, we have looked to and trusted our own government and Parliament to steer us through. We should do the same now as we look to rebuild for the long term. If we want to make sure the country we rebuild is the one we want it to be, with kindness, compassion, fairness, equality and enterprise at its heart, then we must work to the right plan, with all the tools we need to do the job. #BothVotesSNP 3 Next steps 01. Increase NHS frontline 05. Choose Scotland’s future spending by at least 20% in an Independence to support and renew our NHS Referendum after the Covid as it recovers from Covid-19. crisis is over. This will increase funding of 06. Invest a further £1 billion frontline services by over over the next parliament £2.5 billion. to close the school 02. Create a National Care attainment gap and recruit Service backed by increasing 3500 additional teachers investment in social care and classroom assistants, by 25%. allowing teachers more time out of the classroom 03. Double the Scottish Child Payment to £20 per child to prepare lessons and improve per week to lift thousands their skills. of families and children out 07. Provide free school of poverty and provide a breakfasts and lunches to cash grant of £520 for every every primary school pupil family with children in receipt in Scotland, all year round, of free school meals until the and for all children in full rollout of Scottish Child state-funded special Payment is complete. schools in Scotland. 04. Deliver a further 08. Freeze Income Tax rates 100,000 affordable and bands and increase homes by 2032, backed by thresholds by a maximum investment of £3.5 billion over of inflation. the parliament, supporting 14,000 jobs a year. 4 SNP Manifesto 2021 09. Give a fair pay rise to 13. Build a wraparound NHS staff, offering a 4% childcare system providing increase on average, not the care before and after school, 1% offered by the Tories. all year round, where the least well-off families will 10. Invest an additional £500 million to support new jobs pay nothing. and reskill people for the 14. £ Invest over £33 billion over jobs of the future over the the next five years in our next parliament. National Infrastructure Mission, directly supporting 11. Provide every child in Scotland with a device to 45,000 jobs, and get online, including a free found a new National internet connection and the Infrastructure Company. support to use it. 15. Maintain and strengthen Scotland’s relationship with 12. Deliver a green transport revolution to meet our net our EU partners with a view zero targets by providing to rejoining as soon as possible. free bikes for all children of 16. Decarbonise the heating of school age who cannot afford 1 million homes by 2030 them, removing the majority with investment of £1.6 billion of fossil fuel buses from over the next Parliament to public transport by 2023 and tackle the climate crisis. creating a greener, more 17. Bring Scotrail into public affordable railway. ownership from next year and decarbonise Scotland’s rail services by 2035. #BothVotesSNP 5 OUR MANIFESTO AND YOU Using the self-selections below, you can access our manifesto. BIG TEXT AUDIO EASY LARGE BSL BRAILLE GAELIC READ PRINT Contents 07 Leading Scotland out of 37 living better the covid crisis 45 an economy that works 11 a democratic nation 59 land of opportunity 14 OUR VISION 67 a net zero nation 17 a caring society 71 scotland IN the world 27 an equal society 6 SNP Manifesto 2021 Leading Scotland out of the Covid crisis Over the last year we have all learned a lot about Covid 19, its impact on our health and our society. As we begin to rebuild and renew our society and prepare for life after the pandemic, it is essential we continue to protect ourselves and each other from the spread of the virus. In government we have not got everything right, but we have learned from our mistakes, and we have taken all of our decisions in the interests of saving as many lives as possible.