Anti-austerity campaign

There is a story in today's Sunday Herald that highlights UNISON Scotland's ongoing campaign against austerity and the impact it is having on Scotland. It describes some of the methods we are using to promote that campaign in the coming months.

However, the newspaper has spun this into an initiative aimed at attacking Labour. It is nothing of the sort.

In fact the campaign starts by highlighting the differences between Labour's spending plans and those of the Tories as analysed by the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies. This shows a £43bn difference in the two plans. While the Barnett consequentials of that difference is difficult to precisely calculate, the Tory plans will clearly result in massive cuts to services and the jobs of UNISON members in Scotland.

While this campaign is not intended to direct members on how to vote in the General Election, the idea that it is being targeted at Labour candidates is nothing short of absurd. It will be up to all parties to explain to our members their position on austerity and they will make their own decision on how to cast their vote.