Labour leader Iain Gray accused Alex Salmond of failing Scottish school children as his promise to match Labour’s school building programme “brick for brick” is now past the point of no return.

Iain Gray, MSP, said:

“The First Minister has broken every promise on education on nursery teachers, PE in schools, teacher numbers, class sizes and of course, school building. ­Every education promise is collapsing brick by brick. It is clear Fiona Hylsop, his Education secretary, is also failing Scotland’s children.  She, too, is past the point of no return.”

Referring to a newspaper report today that no work has been commissioned under SNP’s stalled new Futures Trust, Iain Gray said:

“I have to admit I don’t know Ellon Academy but the First Minister does as it is in his own constituency.

“But the buildings at Ellon Academy are past their sell by date, the pupils won’t eat in the cafeteria and they have to cross a busy road on a split campus to get to classes. But I also read a new school would have been built under the plans of the previous Labour-led Executive.

“The First Minister’s own dogma is putting Scottish kids in danger, in his own constituency.

“Meanwhile only three months ago, Fiona Hyslop said  “We are on track to deliver 250 schools by 2011”

“Official figures today make clear that it takes three years to get a school built from the date it is commissioned. And to date the First Minister hasn’t commissioned a single school.  So even if he says he’ll pay for a brand new Ellon Academy this very afternoon, it wouldn’t be built until 2012.

“The First Minister’s promise, to match Labour’s school building programme ‘brick for brick’, now past the point of no return.”

12 March 2009