Hansard

The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott) Con

The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-01501, in the name of John Swinney, on the United Kingdom Government’s autumn budget statement and the Sc...

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth (John Swinney) SNP

I am grateful for the opportunity to open the debate on the autumn budget statement and the wider Scottish economy. It is now more than three years since the...

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con

In comparing the United Kingdom with France and Germany, does the cabinet secretary accept that the coalition Government inherited the highest level of debt ...

John Swinney SNP

I know that Mary Scanlon assiduously follows my speeches in the Parliament. She will not have noticed me in any way shirking from apportioning responsibility...

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab) Lab

The cabinet secretary has rightly referred to the revision downwards of growth forecasts. What impact will that have on the Scottish Government’s spending re...

John Swinney SNP

Mr Baker asks a fair question. I point him to the evidence that I shared with the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee some weeks ago. In the year of greate...

Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con

I apologise for missing the start of the cabinet secretary’s speech.In the switch from revenue to capital quite a large sum—about £150 million—will go into t...

John Swinney SNP

No. The budget proposals rely on a shift from the revenue columns to the capital columns—that is a straightforward transaction in the budget document.

Gavin Brown Con

The Forth crossing is not in the revenue budget.

John Swinney SNP

I point out to Mr Brown that the UK Government has of course reduced our capital budget by 36 per cent, which has been moderated to 32 per cent. In the overa...

Willie Rennie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD) LD

The infrastructure plan is a 20-year plan. The increased funding is provided within the first three years. What has been accelerated as a result of the incre...

John Swinney SNP

Mr Rennie expects me to take a look at those questions, and we will come back to the Parliament, as we will on the other consequentials, to set out how our p...

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab) Lab

Will the minister give way?

John Swinney SNP

I would give way to Mr Findlay if—

The Deputy Presiding Officer Con

Cabinet secretary, you are in your last minute.

John Swinney SNP

I apologise to Mr Findlay. I will happily deal with his points during the debate.The autumn statement provided some additional capital consequentials for the...

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab) Lab

This is a welcome opportunity to debate the autumn statement and its implications for Scotland. It comes at a critical point for our economy and for the worl...

Jackson Carlaw (West Scotland) (Con) Con

Is it not a consequence of the coalition Government’s strategy that we have the lowest interest rates in the world? Would not a consequence of the Labour Par...

Richard Baker Lab

I presume that Mr Carlaw would not have acted to bail out the banks. The UK Government has left us the lowest rates of growth in the world, and it has choked...

Gavin Brown Con

Will the member acknowledge what the Institute for Fiscal Studies has stated? It said that if Labour’s plans had been implemented, they would“now of course h...

Richard Baker Lab

No, because the figures that I have show that the UK Government plans £37 billion more borrowing in future years than the amount in Labour’s plans that were ...

Gavin Brown Con

Will the member give way?

Richard Baker Lab

I have already given way to Mr Brown. I will try to take an intervention from him later.We understand that there will be limited consequentials in the new pl...

John Swinney SNP

Will Mr Baker take this opportunity to confirm his understanding of the spending review, which involves a rising trend of capital expenditure in Scotland des...

Richard Baker Lab

My understanding, from what the cabinet secretary said earlier, is that there will be consequentials later in the spending review cycle involving increased s...

Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con

It is worth reflecting on some of the analysis and feedback from economists since last week’s autumn statement. The Economist put it simply, stating that“the...

Stuart McMillan (West Scotland) (SNP) SNP

Does Gavin Brown agree that it is strange that it takes the OBR 18 months to realise that the strategic deficit is worse than planned? What has it been doing...

Gavin Brown Con

I find it surprising that the member wishes to criticise the OBR, which has received praise for its work from across the political and economic spectrum and ...

Richard Baker Lab

What is the cost to our economy from the fact that our growth rates are higher than only those of Greece and Portugal, out of the whole euro zone?

Gavin Brown Con

The growth rates are very disappointing, but if one looks at the OBR report in full—not just the press release that accompanied it—one sees that, although th...