Alex Salmond and the SNP are losing the argument for independence with women across Scotland, Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary, Margaret Curran MP, will say today. 

Speaking at a Labour Party summit for women’s organisations in Edinburgh, she will say that women are backing the no campaign because Alex Salmond has failed to answer fundamental questions about the currency and are not willing to “take this risk with their family’s future.”

She will also reveal the findings of new research by the independent House of Commons library which shows that seven years after the SNP took control of the Scottish Government, several key Scottish Government agencies only have one or two female board members. She will say that “the SNP only started paying attention to women when they wanted to win their votes.”

The audit shows that:

• Over seven years since the SNP took control of the Scottish Government, less than a third of board members of some Non Departmental Public Bodies are women.
• Several bodies – including Visit Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission – have only one or two female board members.
• On average, only 4 out of every 10 Health Board members are women.

She will contrast the SNP’s plans for independence with Labour’s five point plan for women across Scotland and Labour’s record of passing the equal pay act, anti-discrimination laws, establishing all women shortlists and reaching 50:50 representation in the Scottish Parliament.

Ms. Curran will say that women are backing the ‘no’ campaign:

“It is now clear that women are backing the no campaign.

“Just yesterday, the social attitudes survey showed that there is a twelve point gap between women and men backing independence.

“Only 27 per cent of women now support independence.

“For any of us who have spent time talking to women about the referendum over the past two years, that shouldn’t come as a surprise.

“Women are concerned about their own future and their family’s future, and Alex Salmond and the SNP haven’t given them any of the answers they need.

“Last Tuesday night, women across Scotland saw the First Minister struggle to answer the most basic questions about the economy.

“And on doorsteps across Scotland this weekend, women told me the same thing.

“They don’t want to take this risk with their family’s future.

“Alex Salmond is playing fast and loose with Scotland’s economy, and we know it.

“And his way of managing our money, goes against the way most of us would manage our own.

“You wouldn’t make a decision like buying a house or a car without sitting down and thinking it through.

“But the Nationalists want to make the biggest decision we’ve ever made, without even being able to tell us what our currency would be.

“Or the impact it would have on our mortgages, our interest rates, or how much we pay for our weekly shop.

“And they don’t believe the First Minister’s promises of a better future under independence.

“Because they know that their family’s health, their education and their childcare is already determined by the Scottish Government.

“And the SNP haven’t delivered.

“They know that the SNP only started paying attention to them when they wanted to win their votes.”

She will reveal the conclusions of an audit of Scottish Government agencies conducted by the independent House of Commons Library and say that it shows the SNP’s commitment to women is “paper thin.”

“Today, over seven years into the SNP’s time in Government, we haven’t seen any real improvements in increasing women in public life across Scotland.

“Our Parliament now has a lower proportion of women than when it was established.

“A Parliament that was meant to enhance the role of women, has instead seen progress stall.

“Despite this, the SNP have failed to take any real action as a party or a Government to change this.

“Their commitment to increasing women’s representation is paper thin.

“Look at the appointments they have made in the past seven years.

“Only a third of people that hold positions on some of our most important public bodies are women.

“Visit Scotland, who present Scotland’s face to the world, only has one woman on their board.

“Sport Scotland, while they should be congratulated for promoting so many of our great women athletes at the Commonwealth Games, should be concerned that only two of their eleven board members are women.

“And the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Board shouldn’t be able to get away with only two of their twelve board members being women.

“The Scottish Government could take action to change this.

“But they haven’t.

“That’s why Labour, in Government in Scotland, would make sure that 50 per cent of people on our public bodies are women.”