CAMPAIGNING AT the Kingdom Shopping Centre over the weekend, Scottish Socialist Party candidate Morag Balfour identified childcare as a key issue for women voters.

Ms Balfour said lack of affordable childcare places had become a major barrier to many taking jobs.

“They are telling me and other SSP workers that there is no point in offering training if taking a job just means that the extra money you earn is swallowed up by childcare costs,” she said.

“In this election the SSP is demanding a big expansion in publicly-funded childcare which would meet this need while also providing numbers of skilled and valuable jobs in our community.

“The truth is that the care of our children is too important to be turned into a lucrative business for high- cost private nurseries and we need properly funded public provision.