Ian Swanson - Free parking

WHEN Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon announced the abolition of hospital car parking charges, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and two other PFI-operated sites were excluded from the move.
It would have cost just too much to buy out the contracts, the government explained.
But this morning Labour backbencher Paul Martin is launching a consultation on a proposed member’s bill to make it illegal to charge for parking at any NHS site, including PFI hospitals.
He doesn’t go into details about the cost or consequences of buying out contracts, but says it would be up to health boards and the Scottish Government to implement free parking.
But even before Mr Martin officially launched his proposal, SNP Lothians MSP and former GP Dr Ian McKee put out a press release accusing him of hypocrisy.
He says: “It beggars belief that Paul Martin is now calling for an end to these parking charges - it was a Labour Government who introduced them.
“The SNP has opposed PFI from the outset for this very reason. It lumbers hard working Scots with long term debt they do not want and ties them into contracts which continually to tax the public for private profit.”