Our manifesto will be the most pro-business ever – Dugdale

Scottish Labour’s manifesto for next year’s Holyrood election will be the most pro-business ever, Kezia Dugdale said today.

Speaking ahead of a visit to the Byres Road and Lanes Business Improvement District (BID) in Glasgow to mark Small Business Saturday, the Scottish Labour Leader said that to be able to invest in schools and hospitals we need to generate wealth first.

Ms Dugdale will visit a number of local and independent businesses and speak to local shop owners directly about plans to grow their business.

Ahead of the visit Kezia Dugdale said:

“Small businesses all across Scotland generate the wealth we need to invest in the things that are important to us – an NHS fit for the 2040s, not the 1940s; closing the gap between the richest and the rest in our classrooms; and giving young families a fair chance at life. To ensure we have the resources to change our country Scotland must be a nation that is open and welcoming to people who want to invest and set up their own business.

Small Business Saturday is a chance to celebrate the risk takers, the people who take a punt by starting their own firm. That’s the people who open corner shops, cafes and clothes shops, and the entrepreneurs who set up high tech firms creating the jobs of the future. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy.

Scottish Labour back those who want to start their own business. That’s why our manifesto for next year’s election will be the most pro-business in Scottish Labour’s history. Under my leadership Scottish Labour will have a renewed relationship with those who generate the wealth Scotland needs to make our country a fairer place to live.”