Meeting of the Parliament 08 September 2015
Mr Scott makes a very substantial point. I have visited Orkney and I was in the Western Isles just this weekend, and I have received representations about the difficulty caused by the inclement weather in growing enough feed for livestock, which are of course central in Mr Scott’s constituency, Orkney, the Western Isles and all our island communities to individuals’ livelihoods.
As Mr Scott will know, the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment was in Brussels yesterday discussing those very issues with his European counterparts. As part of that analysis, we will, of course, consider the substantial issue that Mr Scott has raised.
Tackling income inequality has been central to the Government’s economic strategy. One of the members of the First Minister’s Council of Economic Advisers, Professor Stiglitz, recently commented:
“Tackling inequality is the foremost challenge that many governments face. Scotland’s Economic Strategy leads the way in identifying the challenges and provides a strong vision for change.”
In practice, implementing the strategy will mean that we will focus on boosting competitiveness and tackling inequality through four key priorities: long-term sustainable investment in people, infrastructure and assets; growth that is based on innovation and openness to new ways of undertaking business activity; promoting inclusive growth and creating opportunity through a fair and inclusive jobs market and regional cohesion; and creating a country with an international outlook that is open to trade, migration and new ideas. All those elements are essential to the process of wealth creation, which the Government believes to be important in this exercise.