William Hague, Hansard, 22 May 1997.
| 'We are against devolution for Scotland - that is what we fought the General Election on.' William Hague, Hansard, 22 May 1997. | |
The SNP also highlighted that by bringing in William Hague to bolster their campaign, the Tories were linking their candidate to the failures of the last government when Hague was a cabinet minister.
Exposing the Tory legacy and uncovering the Tory leader's involvement, Alex Salmond said:
'The removal of the link between pensions and earnings by the Tory government in 1980 means that our senior citizens are being robbed of a decent weekly income. Over the next 12 months, a single pensioner in Ayr will be £1,100 and a pensioner couple nearly £1,800 worse off than they would have been if the link had been maintained.
'Despite having the power to restore the link when he was a Minister in the Department of Social Security, William Hague did nothing to stop the value of the state pension reducing year on year.
'For eighteen years the Tories opposed the establishment of the Scottish Parliament they now want us to elect them to. In 1997 William Hague said: 'We are against devolution for Scotland - that is what we fought the General Election on.' [Hansard 22 May 1997].'
'It was the Tories who started the fuel duty escalator in 1993, with William Hague voting with his colleagues to start the increase. This Tory policy - which has been continued by Labour - means that every time a motorist fills up their tank, 66 per cent - or 52p of the 78.9p pump price paid for unleaded petrol in Ayr today - is fuel duty.
'It was the Tories who first started attacking our local councils by cutting back on their funding - a policy which is today leading to deep cuts in council jobs and services across South Ayrshire, and the closure of the Carrick Street Day Centre.
'In the last three years of the Tory government alone - when Hague was a Cabinet Minister - they cut £515 million from Scottish local government spending.
'The introduction of PFI, the mismanagement of the BSE crisis, the reduction of student grants, VAT on fuel, taking our water services out of local government controlÉ. the list goes onÉand Hague backed them all!'
SNP candidate Jim Mather added:
'It is my belief that only a small majority of the people of this constituency want to return to the dark days of Tory government - given that we are still trying to recover from their legacy of failure.
'The Tory candidate in this campaign has talked about the Tories 'Golden Legacy' and was laughed at. That's no surprise when you remember that many of the policies hitting the people of this constituency today are policies put in place by the last Tory government.
'With only a few days to go until polling, William Hague's visit is a huge blunder. It only serves to remind local people of the Tory legacy of failure, and the Tory leader's involvement every step of the way.
'Stopping the Tories this Thursday means voting SNP. ThatÕs the only way to prevent Ayr constituency being dragged back to the failures of the past.
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