Maryhill MSP Patricia Ferguson today hit out at the SNP for delivering a budget that has 'failed Scotland and failed the communities of Maryhill'.

The SNP's budget voted through the Scottish Parliament with Conservative support was described as a missed opportunity for recovery despite the Nationalists having a record amount of money to spend.

Patricia Ferguson MSP said:

"The budget was a missed opportunity for Glasgow and the communities of Maryhill.  The so-called money for housing and regeneration was a re-announcement.  It was not new money despite Nationalist claims and this response to the economic crisis will costs jobs in our communities.

"More politics, more repitition, more deception, but no new money - the hallmark of this SNP government.

"The SNP Government budget is going up by almost a billion pounds - an increase of £943m next year.

"That money should have been spent on building homes, creating jobs and giving young people training, and allowing all people on the Disability Allowance to have free travel.  But where has that extra £1bn gone?  It is on the SNP's vanity projects such as the Scottish Futures Trust, the National Conversation and the referendum.

"The Scottish Futures Trust has not built a single school, hospital or other public building and is nothing more that a £25m white elephant.

"No MSP that truly cares about Scotland would back the SNP's vanity priorities over supporting Scottish families through the economic downturn.

"The SNP also got rid of the Glasgow Airport Rail link with little regard for proper process or economic sense.  GARL would have been a positive project for the whole of Scotland - deliver vital investment in the west of Scotland and creating 1,300 jobs.

"Only Labour is committed to delivering real help for our communities."