No levelling-up for areas north of the border

Being in opposition to the Labour, Tory, Lib Dem coalition has shown us the real lack of ambition that unionism offers. Their litany of failures are blamed on anyone they can think of while the Unionist coalition offers no real change for residents.

This was evident during this year’s budget, when despite the council receiving a £35 million uplift in its block grant from the Scottish Government the unionist parties failed to deliver anything meaningful, voting down SNP plans for free universal childcare on Friday afternoons, support for youth work and help for unpaid carers. But they did find the cash to spend £500k on a city knees-up…

The final council debate I led as leader of the SNP group was on the UK’s disgraceful Levelling Up programme, described as a replacement for EU funding that was claimed would “level-up” the economies of areas outside London. We now know this was another UK con.

Instead of Scotland getting our fair share, hundreds of millions is being spent in the surrounding areas of uber-rich Canary Wharf, while only a tiny fraction has been allocated to Edinburgh and Scotland.

When I took over the leadership I was the fourth leader in four years and since then my colleagues have unanimously re-elected me six times giving us the stability needed to fully dedicate ourselves to the city we love. I’m confident Team SNP will continue to go from strength to strength in the years to come.

I’m very grateful to the many people who have supported me in my time leading Edinburgh’s biggest party. But my most sincere thanks go to our residents who put their trust in the SNP. Your trust is carried carefully by your SNP representatives, and it remains an honour to serve our amazing capital city.

Councillor Adam Nols-McVey is SNP leader on City of Edinburgh Council

No levelling-up for areas north of the border - Adam Nols-McVey