Labourcannotbetrusted

I was rather bemused reading James Kelly MSP’s latest column on housing.

I thought Mr Kelly may have held his hands up for past Labour mistakes which have contributed to the housing situation, however I was sadly mistaken and his finger was pointed elsewhere.

James Kelly MSP may have a short memory, however I am sure your readers will not.

It is a simple fact that in 2009/10, the SNP re-introduced council house building and since then they have delivered 8,211 council homes.

In Labour’s last term in government, they built a grand total of six.

In addition to over 30,000 affordable homes that were built during the last parliamentary term, the Scottish Government are committed to building a further 50,000 new affordable homes this term, of which 35,000 will be for social rent. As part of this programme South Lanarkshire Council will receive £76.7 million funding from the SNP government in Holyrood over the next three years which will allow the council to continue with their social housing programme and plan for an extra 2,067 affordable homes between 2018 and 2023, including social rent homes in Rutherglen.

According to Mr Kelly, Scottish Labour would also “reinstate housing benefit for the under-21s that was so cruelly cut by the Conservative government”.

On the face of it, this is a proposal that most would support – however he fails to mention that the SNP government have already extended the Scottish welfare fund to help 18-21-year-olds affected by this. Next he will be taking credit for the SNP abolishing right-tobuy.

James Kelly’s party cannot be trusted when it comes to house building, and no doubt your readers will see through him. David Innes SNP Candidate for Rutherglen Central and North