Meeting of the Parliament 11 March 2015
I have set out the fact that, by exercising responsibilities in accordance with the needs and priorities of the people of Scotland, we have the ability to achieve some of the improvements in economic performance that I have set out, such as increasing exports by 50 per cent or strengthening our productivity so that we can improve the Scottish economy’s performance and generate the revenues that will enable the people of Scotland to prosper as a consequence.
At the heart of the debate is an issue that Jackie Baillie raised—the financial context in which we take our decisions. Of course, the financial context in which we have taken our decisions is one in which the United Kingdom has increased its debt over the past five years by £600 billion.
Jackie Baillie has argued that, if a Labour Government is elected on 7 May, the issues of austerity will somehow not be on the agenda. She must explain to Parliament why on earth Labour MPs voted for the charter for budget responsibility, thereby committing the Labour Party to £30 billion-worth of cuts over the first two years of the next Parliament. Why on earth did Labour MPs vote for that charter when, in doing so, they were committing their party to such a significant reduction in public expenditure?