EDINBURGH, December 15 (Sputnik) – The leaders of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Welsh nationalists Plaid Cymru and the UK Green Party have called on the principal Westminster parties to abandon the policy of austerity measures in a joint statement Monday.
“There is no end in sight to the Westminster cuts that are already hitting Scotland hard — the Autumn Statement earlier this month set out another £15bn of cuts that are coming our way. Not only will these cuts continue to hit hard-working families, women and the vulnerable hardest – they will also put growth and competitiveness at risk” First Minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP Nicola Sturgeon said in a joint statement.
Leanne Wood, the leader of Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru added that “all three Westminster parties [Conservatives, Liberals and Labour] are committed to slash and burn economics. That means cuts for the sake of cuts rather than balancing the books by investment and spreading opportunities”.
Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said more focus was needed on the reasons for the economic challenges the United Kingdom is facing.
“In thinking about future financial stability, we have to focus on the reason for our current difficulties, the near-collapse of our fraud-ridden, reckless, over-large financial sector,” Bennett said.
The joint statement followed a formal meeting held by the three party leaders in Westminster to explore ways they can cooperate against the austerity agenda in the run up to the 2015 UK General election.
In 2010, the Conservative and Liberal UK government coalition initiated an austerity program intended to reduce the country’s budget deficit. The measures included sustained reductions in public spending. The program was supposed to end by 2015, however earlier in the month British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in a so-called Autumn Statement, which sets out the government’s long-term economic plan, has proposed to continue austerity programs until at least 2020.
