HOLYROOD must “recapture the radical spirit of devolution,” Richard Leonard has insisted as today marks the 20th anniversary of the first elections to the Scottish Parliament.
The Scottish Labour leader, speaking in a video released on social media to mark the occasion, said: “Labour delivered a Scottish Parliament and the next Scottish Labour Government will implement the most radical economic and social agenda in the history of devolution.
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“We will rededicate ourselves to realising the radical vision politicians like Donald Dewar and John Smith had for our parliament.
“The early years of devolution saw real action from Labour on land reform, scrapping tuition fees, introducing the smoking ban and the free bus pass.”
Mr Leonard said the recent past had seen great strides in equalities legislation like equal marriage.
“But too often in recent years the Parliament has been distracted by constitutional debate rather than real action on the issues people care about, like jobs, schools and hospitals," he insisted.
“Meanwhile, the use of the new powers over tax and social security have been far too timid. While the wealth and incomes of the richest have soared in the past decade, 1 in 4 children are growing up in poverty.”
The Central Scotland MSP added: “That makes me even more determined to win power to bring about real change. To make the richest pay their fair share to build a fairer society for all of us.”
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Willie Rennie, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, in marking the 20th anniversary called for unity, saying: “At its beginning, the Parliament was a force for unity and shared endeavour. It is such a disappointment to so many that the goodwill of 20 years has been squandered by the forces for division on extremes in the Brexit and Independence debates.
“The days of unity of 1999 could teach us something in 2019,” he declared.
Mr Rennie, the MSP for North East Fife, added: “The public want politicians to put the constitutional divisions behind us, unite for a better country and focus on getting our public services back on track. That’s the task we face today.”
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