Enough! SNP Promises to End UK Austerity Measures - Deputy Leader

EDINBURGH (Sputnik) – The Scottish National Party (SNP) will work with “progressive allies” to bring an end to austerity measures across the entire United Kingdom, the party's deputy leader, Stewart Hosie, said Tuesday.

“A strong team of SNP MPs [members of parliament] working with progressive allies from across the UK will put an end to the ideological commitment to austerity of both the Tory and Labour leaderships – delivering real support for businesses, protecting our public services and creating more opportunities for our young people,” Hosie said in an address during campaign trail in Scotland’s eastern town of Kirkcaldy.

Hosie went on to claim that austerity measures introduced by the Conservative and Liberal coalition government, but backed by Labour, had led to an increase in child poverty and a growing dependence on food banks.

“Westminster’s obsession with austerity is holding back Scotland’s economy and damaging communities across the country, pushing 100,000 more children in Scotland into poverty and seeing a 400 percent increase in people forced to rely on foodbanks. Austerity is failing on every level and people are crying out for a real alternative,” Hosie added.

The UK general election is scheduled for May 7, 2015. British citizens will elect representatives to sit in the House of Commons, the country's lower house of parliament, for five-year terms.

In the beginning of March, election polling has shown a consistent lead for the SNP in Scotland with some predicting the party could take 56 of Scotland’s 59 parliamentary seats in the general elections, wiping out the Labour party which has been the dominant political force north of the border for 50 years.

With both Labour and Conservatives running neck and neck in opinion polling surveys unable to secure an absolute majority, a significant showing for the SNP could leave them holding the balance of power at a UK level.