This week I wanted to write about how Labour has taken the bold decision to raise taxes, modestly, because we believe there are things worth paying for in life.
We would rather hold onto our schools, bring back our public services, stand by those in need, rather than avoid asking the richest to pay more.
Every economic expert says that only Labour can end the cuts because only Labour has a fully-costed and credible plan to pay for investment in services. Our plan will see a Breakfast Club in every school.
It will see the end of cuts to bus routes and the extension of the bus pass to apprentices and veterans. It will see access to a GP surgery appointment within 48 hours. It will see investment in the poorest kids at school, to close the gap between the richest and the rest. It will see an end to the unfair council tax.
Those are all policies in the greatest tradition of the Labour Party. I’m going to be honest. I’ve never been so proud to be in the Labour Party. This is who we are. Radical and ready to break down the barriers that hold so many back.
But the policy I’m most proud of in our manifesto is one that would change the lives of thousands of disabled people and their families. I proposed it at our party conference last year having campaigned for it for years as a disability rights activist. No other party would listen. And just the other day my proposal became part of the Labour Party Manifesto.
I want to end social care charges. I am sick of disabled people having to pay for the right to have a Carer help them get up in the morning, go to work, have lunch, wipe their bums, or go to bed at night. It’s wrong. It holds disabled people and their families back.
As I wrote this I realised the best way to explain it was to give you the link to the short speech I made about my best friend who has juvenile arthritis. It’s the speech that convinced the Labour Party that care charges are wrong. I hope it’s the speech that will convince you too.
This is the final week of submissions by candidates – all five candidates in Moray who have been providing weekly updates will do so one more time, and then on the day before the Election we will provide a final round-up.