NICOLA Sturgeon will set out her plans for the next year in the Scottish Parliament today.
The First Minister is revealing the Programme for Government to MSPs, including 12 new Bills and 13 left over from before the summer break.
Ms Sturgeon said it would include the biggest investment in public infrastructure the country has ever seen.
She said: “Last year’s Programme for Government set out bold and ambitious plans to tackle some of the big challenges of our time – getting our economy fit for the future, preparing for demographic change and tackling inequality.
“It spoke to the sort of Scotland we want to see – one that is innovative, welcoming, caring and productive.
“In this Programme for Government I am committing to the most ambitious long-term level of infrastructure spend that Scotland has ever seen – that is investment in schools, hospitals and transport, and in digital connectivity and clean energy.
“This Programme for Government continues the major reforms that are under way in our health, education and justice systems.
“And it builds on the progress we have made in tackling inequalities”
She added that Brexit was a risk to her ambitions but warned it can’t be allowed to hold Scotland back.
She added:” “Of course we cannot ignore the fact that Brexit puts all of our progress at risk, with uncertainty being made worse by the Tories’ blundering and the prospect of a no-deal outcome. But, equally, we must not let Brexit define us, curtail our ambitions or halt Scotland’s progress.”
The Conservatives said Ms Sturgeon was “getting excuses in early” for future failure.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: “It sounds like Nicola Sturgeon has already begun blaming Brexit for all her SNP government’s inevitable failings, before it’s even happened.
“By getting these excuses in early, she’s already accepted her Programme for Government is pie-in-the-sky.
Meanwhile, Labour said the programme offered more of the same
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, said: “As the SNP’s Cuts Commission showed, Nicola Sturgeon is content to offer the people of Scotland nothing but austerity, while the economy continues to work for just the few.”
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