All our children should be given every opportunity to achieve thee best they can. All our children should be able to read and write when they leave primary school.

This is the most effective way to prepare them for their future within this evolving world of work. It is also the best way to strengthen the economy of our country by ensuring we have a top quality, highly -skilled and adaptable work-force.

Sadly, our education service is not allowing this to happen at the moment.

6000 children leave primary school in Scotland unable to read.

1500 schools in Scotland get no extra support from the SNP Government to cut the attainment gap, despite having children from poorer backgrounds who are under-achieving.

Recent cuts to local government budgets from the SNP Government have put important provisions such as pupil support assistants and local libraries at risk.

If we fail to invest properly in education, and if we fail to support all our children with the resources they need, we will be failing to provide the skills and knowledge needed to build a strong economy in an increasingly competitive global environment.

Scottish Labour will use our income tax powers to stop all cuts to education. We will bring back the 50p top rate for those earning over £150,000 a year. We will use the money this provides to help our teachers to reduce the attainment gap and give all our children the opportunity to achieve.