Double defeat for SNP in 'humiliating' blow over school meals and train fares
SNP ministers have endured a “humiliating” double defeat at Holyrood, with opposition parties ganging up to attack the Government’s controversial policies on free school meals and peak rail fares.
The Scottish Government has lost a symbolic, but non-binding vote calling for a re-think of its decision not to continue a 2021 manifesto pledge to introduce free school meals for all primary pupils from next year.
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Hide AdMSPs also backed a motion on Wednesday calling on the Scottish Government to reverse its decision to reintroduce peak rail fares - essentially making commuting by train more expensive for many people.
READ MORE: Analysis: Why the Scottish Government will lose vote over free school meals - but will ignore the result
As well as the embarrassment at losing two non-binding votes in the same afternoon, the defeats raise the prospects of John Swinney’s difficulty in leading a minority government, with the First Minister requiring the support of other parties to pass his legislation and annual Budget.


The Tory motion calling on the Government to expand free school meals to all primary pupils passed with 64 votes in favour, two against and 60 abstentions.
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Hide AdJust afterwards, another Conservative motion, calling on the Government to reverse its decision to reintroduce peak fares on ScotRail, passed with 64 votes in favour and 62 against.
However, the votes are not expected to change the Scottish Government’s policy on either issue.
The decision to means test free school meals for P6 and P7 students was made as part of the Government announcing up to £500 million of cuts, as it grapples with a £1 billion funding black hole.
Speaking during the free school meals debate, SNP education secretary Jenny Gilruth said the decision was down to money, with £256 million needed to keep the pledge for all primary pupils.
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Hide AdThe First Minister had quietly dropped a pledge to expand “universal” provision to P6 and P7 pupils within the next couple of years as part of his Programme for Government announced last week.
Ms Gilruth said: “The Scottish Government are in a financial straightjacket and there is never a scintilla of recognition that maybe, just maybe, decisions taken elsewhere are harming the decisions taken in this Parliament.
“It’s very clear that while Westminster takes away, this SNP Scottish Government is investing in Scotland’s future, with child poverty rates lower than the UK average and Scottish Government policies like the Scottish Child Payment helping to keep an estimated 100,000 children out of relative poverty this year.”
Scottish Conservative chief whip Alexander Burnett said the two “humiliating parliamentary defeats” should lead to Mr Swinney dropping the policies.
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Hide AdHe said: “Both announcements, which stem from the SNP’s mismanagement of Scotland’s finances, have sparked anger among the public – and MSPs have rightly given voice to that fury today.
“John Swinney would be both arrogant and foolish to ignore today’s Holyrood double whammy.”
Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie said the double defeat was “an important day for the Scottish Parliament”.
He said: “We cannot cut the number of cars on our roads by hiking up rail fares in a climate crisis, and nor can we tackle child poverty by backtracking on universal free school meals.
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Hide Ad“If we are to create a fairer and greener Scotland, then we need to be investing in public transport and supporting families on the frontline of the cost-of-living crisis.
“The Scottish Government faces political choices and has opted to keep handouts for big business while asking rail users to pay more and breaking promises to families with primary school age children.”
Labour’s education spokeswoman Pam Duncan-Glancy accused the Government of being a “barrier to opportunity”, adding that “people are sick of being promised stuff they don’t get”.
The Scottish Government has no requirement to act on the votes, but will have more pressure piled on it to change course.
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Hide AdSNP ministers have also angered trade unions over its free school meals U-turn.
STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said: “Putting the sheer hypocrisy aside for the Tories to bring a motion like this to Parliament when they are utterly complicit in embedding child poverty, it shows how parties across the chamber are rightly furious on the SNP Scottish Government’s betrayal of school pupils. “The Government has been shamed today. Our Parliament was right to hold them to account.
“Every day that a child goes hungry in our classrooms is a national scandal and it’s utterly incompatible for the Scottish Government to claim eradicating child poverty is their priority whilst they rollback on their pledge to our pupils.”
The £40 million scheme to scrap peak rail fares was dropped after the Government said it had not increased train travel by as much as hoped. The one-year pilot scheme will end on September 27.
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Hide AdThe reintroduction of peak fares will mean the price of the top ticket between Glasgow and Edinburgh will now rise by 8.6 per cent to £31.40.
In Wednesday’s debate on peak rail fares, Tory transport spokesman Graham Simpson called on the Government to reverse its decision. He said ScotRail was offering an “unreliable service and now it’s more expensive”.
A peak-time ticket between Edinburgh and Glasgow will soon become nearly double the price it was at the start of this year, he said.
Mr Simpson continued: “If your policy is to get more people on to the roads, then this is genius.”
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Hide AdTransport Secretary Fiona Hyslop responded, saying the scrapping of peak rail fares had led to an extra four million rail journeys taking place.
She said: “This is in the context of around five billion annual private car journeys in Scotland and represents a reduction of less than 0.1 per cent of car-based carbon emissions.”
Evidence suggests the pilot benefited those of above-average income, she said.
Ms Hyslop added: “I wanted the pilot to succeed and I am disappointed it has not. But the moderate increase in passenger levels, while welcome, was significantly below the 10 per cent increase needed to make the scheme self-financing.”
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Hide AdDiscounts are available on ScotRail season tickets which can save commuters money, she said.
Scottish Labour’s Alex Rowley said the Government’s target of cutting car kilometres by 20 per cent in 2030 was now looking “pie in the sky”.
He said: “Inspiring modal shift means targeting those that are driving and giving them reason to change their mode of transport. That must mean making rail more accessible, affordable and reliable.”
Aslef, the train drivers' union, used the debate vote result to call on the Government to reverse its "disastrous" decision to reintroduce peak fares.
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Hide AdKevin Lindsay, Aslef’s Scottish organiser, described the decision as “short-sighted”, saying: "Scotland needs a world-class rail service, and a central part of that is making rail travel affordable, accessible, and attractive for passengers, especially for those who rely on it."
He added: "Affordable rail travel will help people make that modal shift from road to rail and help Scotland meet our targets to reduce CO2 emissions. How on earth can Scotland meet its climate targets if it makes rail travel - the most environmentally sustainable way to travel - unaffordable for huge swathes of the population?"
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