AS THE Scottish Parliament returned last week, one of the first items on the agenda was the latest Programme for Government (PfG).

This year’s programme speech was delivered by the third First Minister in three years, but there was no sign of any real difference.

Scotland needed a PfG that recognised the scale of the challenges we face: stagnating growth, record long NHS waiting lists, falling education standards, rising levels of drug deaths and a housing emergency. But instead, we just heard more of the same. There was no vision, no strategy and no plan.

The lame PfG came the day after the Finance Secretary delivered the Scottish Government’s fiscal update. This amounted to £500m cuts to public services. All of the independent experts – including the Fraser of Allander Institute, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Audit Scotland and the Scottish Fiscal Commission – are clear that these SNP cuts stem from their own incompetence and mismanagement of public funds.

Yet again, though, rather than take responsibility for their decisions and record, the Cabinet Secretary sought to pass the buck. It is clearer than ever that, after 17 years in power, this Government has run out of ideas and grown out of touch.

We have been suffering the impact of SNP cuts and incompetence in East Lothian for years now. Our court was closed, local housing is in crisis, health services are closing, our schools are receiving less funding and now local police stations face the axe. The bottom line is that the underwhelming PfG and further cuts to public spending will leave people here paying more and getting less.

As Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said after the PfG debate: “Scotland’s best days do lie ahead of us but our country needs change and Scottish Labour is ready to deliver it.”

We will be campaigning for that much-needed change from now until the next Scottish Parliament election in 2026.