ARichTeaBiscuit continued to support her colleagues in the Scottish Labour Party, with the Leader of the Opposition (in Westminster at least) making the journey to Edinburgh to promote the campaign of NeatSaucer and to promote the policies of the manifesto.

“Hello there,

When I was growing up I remember my mother saying to me that I must of been an explorer or a nomad in one of my previous lives because I have always enjoyed travelling, especially when I am not the individual focusing on driving as it means that I can enjoy the beautiful scenery or engage in some deep thought, and well I have had an incredible experience travelling up and down Scotland these past few days and speaking to the people.

I have learned a great deal from these trips, for example I spoke to a group of parents earlier that were concerned about the size of their local primary school classrooms and how the teachers at the school were getting overwhelmed due to a mixture of red tape and a lack of proper resources, and well we in the Scottish Labour understand the concerns of these parents and indeed of parents across the country, and speaking as someone with a daughter in education themselves I am proud that the Scottish Labour Party is dedicated to ensuring that classroom sizes for primary and secondary education in Scotland are reduced, and that we’ll work with teachers in Scotland to remove unneeded red tape and provide them with additional teachers assistants so that students in need can receive the support that they need.

It is also throughout these travels that I have gained a new understanding of the importance of proper investment in public transportation, as those with a keen interest on public transport policies will know the Beeching cuts delivered a painful blow to many communities across Scotland, many of which are still without access to the rail network, and while the issue of cuts made to networks made outside of Edinburgh might not seem like a local issue I believe it is for two major reasons, firstly that the reduction in connections to Edinburgh and other cities across Scotland have made it harder for people to travel here to engage with the local economy and secondly the lack of a proper commuter zone to certain regions has effectively pushed those that can’t reasonably be expected to drive from communities that were previously served by rail connections closer to the city themselves which has a negative impact on house prices and rent in the region, so by reversing this regressive Beeching cuts you are both supporting economic growth and relieving pressure on local infrastructure.

In the past few days I have also talked to those that are curious about the recent reforms made by the Scottish Conservative Party to repeal changes brought in regards to language by the Scottish Green Party, and that is only a sense of curiosity that has increased since those in the Scottish Conservatives have sought to defend the policy during the course of this devolved election campaign, now I have taken to comparing the reforms laid before the Scottish Greens to the situation that is present in Wales. I believe that people should be aware of the situation in Wales where the education system teaches people the Welsh language and the road signs are written in both Welsh and English, now this is a measure that has been widely lauded and supported by a variety of political parties including that of the Welsh Conservative Party, however, in Scotland the Scottish Conservative Party have taken it upon themselves to declare that Gaelic is being imposed upon people.

I think that it is rather striking that the Scottish Conservative Party and the Welsh Conservative Party have such a large difference over the promotion of indigenous languages, and is rather depressing that this lack of acceptance by those in the Scottish Conservatives has led to the Scottish Government being in breach of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

Scotland needs a government that is willing to work to better the living standards of everyone in the country, and one that won’t embarrass us by breaching agreements such as the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Youmaton and the Scottish Labour Party is the solution to these problems, and you can do your part to achieve that by voting Scottish Labour and sending a strong delegation of Scottish Labour MSPs to the Scottish Parliament.

In Edinburgh that candidate is NeatSaucer, and as someone that has watched their campaign with great interest I know that they’ll be one to work alongside Youmaton and the rest of the Scottish Labour Party to deliver the progressive change that Scotland needs, so when the time comes remember to vote Scottish Labour for a better Scotland, thank you.