First Minister John Swinney will meet new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, in Scotland this morning.
The Prime Minister announced his trip during a press conference at Downing Street called after the first meeting of the cabinet yesterday. He said: “ I shall go first to Scotland…I shall then go to Northern Ireland…then to Wales, and then back to England…
“Where I will meet the First Ministers, not just to discuss the issues and challenges of the day. Of course, we will doa way of working across the United Kingdom that will be different and better to the way of working that we’ve had in recent years, and to recognise the contributions of all four nations…
“On Thursday, we also got a mandate on economic growth – the number one mission of the Labour government…
“And so we discussed at Cabinet and have started the work on driving growth…
“And to make sure that growth is everywhere across the whole country so that people are better off everywhere, wherever they live…
“The principle I operate to is those with skin in the game know what’s best for their communities, and that does require us to be bold about pushing power and resource out of Whitehall…
“And therefore, when I return from the four nations, I shall hold a meeting of the Metro mayors to discuss with them their part in delivering the growth that we need across the United Kingdom.”
Speaking ahead of the meeting, the First Minister, John Swinney, said:“I was really pleased to have the opportunity to speak to the Prime Minister on his first day in office and to congratulate him and wish him, and his family well.
“I look forward to welcoming the Prime Minister to Scotland where I hope to have constructive discussions with him on our shared priorities for the people of Scotland. This includes eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, prioritising net zero, and ensuring effective public services.
“I welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to forge a positive relationship between our governments and for our part, the Scottish Government is committed to working constructively with the UK Government to build a better Scotland.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
