Scots Tories and Labour must lean on UK and Welsh govts on exams fiasco
Scottish Conservatives and Labour should concentrate on averting an exams catastrophe in Westminster and Wales rather than playing petty politics in Holyrood, the Scottish Greens have said.
The call comes on results day for school pupils in the rest of the UK, with a picture emerging of similarly outrageous lowering of working class young people’s grades.
Speaking ahead of the No Confidence vote at Holyrood, Scottish Green education spokesperson Ross Greer said:
“In opposition you have a choice. Snipe from the sidelines or exert your influence to make changes and undo wrongs. The only opposition party in Scotland prepared to do the latter is the Scottish Greens, as the SQA results debacle has proven.
"I warned the Scottish Government for months that the SQA’s flawed and unfair system would cause chaos and embed inequality. When that prediction came true and young people took to the streets, I made it clear to ministers that unless they reversed the 124,565 lowered grades and accepted our proposals for an independent review, we would not have confidence in the Scottish Government. The Greens negotiated for a solution which directly benefited 75,000 young people and that is exactly what we secured.
“We are now seeing a similar mess with regard to estimated grades in England and Wales, which is frankly unbelievable given their governments had the benefit of seeing the disaster which unfolded in Scotland first. Instead of carping from the sidelines, the Tories and Labour at Holyrood could expend their energy trying to lean on their party colleagues in parliaments which don’t have the benefit of the Scottish Greens’ influence.
"The leader of the Scottish Tories in particular would be well placed to do this, given he’s in the same building as the UK Government. Otherwise, he would be in danger of establishing a reputation for hypocrisy just days into his new role.”