ELECTION 2021: Labour promise 'most ambitious' job creation plan for Scotland
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THIS week, we asked the candidates standing in Banffshire and Buchan Coast to share their views as to how the area could recover from the economic ravages of the Covid pandemic.
Here, Scottish Labour candidate Georgia Strachan outlines her party's jobs creation plan, one she describes as the most ambitious" in the history of devolution.
Without bold action, Scotland faces an unemployment crisis that will become a national emergency.
The scale of the problem that confronts us requires a response equally as ambitious as our initial response to the pandemic.
Scottish Labour are proposing the most ambitious jobs creation plan in the history of devolution.
Taking decisive action now can protect people’s incomes and wellbeing, save a generation of young people from being permanently disadvantaged in the labour market, and kick-start our economy.
In Banffshire and Buchan Coast we’ve seen the impact of Brexit on our fishing industry, and the knock-on effect that has, not only on jobs, but on people’s lives. We need the UK government to fulfil its promises to our fishing industry.
However, the Scottish Government cannot wash its hands of rural fishing communities by simply pointing the finger elsewhere.
Scottish Labour will support the community to grow a sustainable fishing industry and work tirelessly to ensure there are opportunities for everyone.
This would mean immediate investment to support the industry, including in mental health support for those suffering with the stress and uncertainty the upheaval is causing.
In the next 10 years our economy is going to transform, and we cannot allow communities to be left behind.
Investment in re-skilling is vital, but so is the infrastructure, like broadband and transport links, to make a transformed economy inclusive.
Covid-19 has shown that remote working on a large scale is possible, we need to make sure that this means opportunity comes to rural areas.
Inequality was on the rise before the pandemic and it has only worsened. We can’t tackle it by going back to the same old arguments.
We need change, and we need to put the people of Banffshire and Buchan Coast first. That’s why I’m asking for both votes Labour on May 6.
