ALEX Salmond yesterday held out the lure of a "transformational shift" in childcare provision after independence, as he set out practical reasons for voting Yes in 2014.
In a clear bid to win over female voters, who opinion polls show are markedly more hostile towards independence than men, the First Minister said support for childcare could rise dramatically to levels "commonplace across European countries".
Read the First Minister's full speech
In Iceland, Germany and Finland, the state meets about 75%, 80% and 85% of childcare costs respectively, while in the UK it is about 25%.
The First Minister told the SNP spring conference in Inverness his council of economic advisers would soon produce a report on the economic and social impact of moving to such European levels.
He said a change would help more women into work, and boost the economy.
Although the SNP Government could invest more in childcare tomorrow, under devolution the economic benefit would mean more tax going to the Treasury, not Holyrood.
The childcare shift was the boldest idea in a speech that painted a crude picture of two alternative futures for Scotland – a pinched, second-rate one under Westminster rule, and a hopeful, progressive one in which Scots decided their own fate.
Salmond also announced that all nine SNP-led councils would refuse to evict tenants who fall into genuine arrears because of the so-called bedroom tax during its first year.
The housing benefit cut, which comes into effect in April, will affect 105,000 working-age social housing tenants in Scotland who are deemed to have "spare" bedrooms, about 16,500 of whom are tenants of SNP-led councils.
With the process side of the referendum over with last week's announcement of September 18, 2014 as the date, Salmond said he wanted to focus on the "why" of independence.
Citing the Iraq war, Trident, and welfare reforms such as the bedroom tax, he said Westminster had consistently imposed bad policies on Scotland, and independence was the only way to break the cycle.
Instead of Holyrood trying to ameliorate London's excesses, he said the parliament must make its own decisions. "Our opponents often say we cannot afford to be independent. I say that Scotland can't afford not to be independent."
He said social change and economic change could go hand-in-hand, citing childcare as a prime example. "Our ambitions for childcare are the hallmark of our approach to social and economic policy – we promote the measures we do because they advance both our economy and our society.
"A progressive social policy boosts the economy, and a dynamic economy enables us to build the fairer society we want. Each is the handmaiden of the other.
"It will not be done in a day, or a year, or even completed in the first term of an independent parliament. But I believe a transformational shift towards childcare should be one of the first tasks of an independent Scotland."
Suggesting 2014 was a now-or-never moment for Scotland – "We do not know if we will pass this way again" – he said people would not regret voting Yes.
"I believe that in 10 years we will look back and say that thanks to independence we will have a thriving economy, a welfare state worthy of the name, the best childcare system anywhere in these islands, and the obscenity of nuclear weapons on the Clyde will be but a distant memory."
In a bid to puncture the mood, the pro-Union Better Together campaign released findings from a new YouGov poll showing 73% of Scots felt Salmond had not provided enough information to let them decide if Scotland should be independent.
Former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling, leader of Better Together, said: "People realise that this is a huge decision they will make. They are desperate for facts and can see that the Nationalists either don't have them or won't give them. Setting the date isn't enough. Salmond must set out the detail."
Labour MSP Paul Martin said: "Alex Salmond promises better childcare, but six years on since his last commitment to increase preschool provision, we're still waiting. Scots want to understand what he will do to help grow our economy now. He talks about the great achievements of devolution on one hand, yet claims that he is powerless against the Coalition government on the other. His negativity is merely a cover for his inaction."
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said Salmond could do more on childcare without independence.
He said: "I'm disappointed that our reasonable and costed plans to deliver free nursery care for 40% of two-year-olds is now being used as a sweetener in the independence referendum. I'm sure that parents, mothers in particular, will be even more disappointed."
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson MSP accused Salmond of blustering, negative rhetoric.
"Alex Salmond boldly announces that he wants to improve childcare but yet again he has come up short in providing any detail.
"A Coalition government has respected the SNP mandate by making the referendum possible and now we need hard facts."
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