Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 19 September 2013
19 Sep 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Scottish Economy
Thank you, Presiding Officer.
What could be more timely than a debate on the economy? After all, a recent opinion poll told us that the majority of Scots think that the economy should be the Scottish National Party Government’s top priority. Alas, those of us who know this Government well always knew that in fact this would be another debate on independence, because that is easier for the Government than facing up to the real challenges of a fragile recovery that is built on too many jobs that are part time, temporary or zero hours and paid for by more and more families struggling on wages that are already below the living wage and falling, and easier than facing up to the challenges of globalisation, demographic change or pension liabilities. However, those are the real economic challenges that every developed country faces. They are the challenges that Alex Salmond’s adviser Alex Bell told us this week he could not get the SNP to acknowledge—and then he was replaced by someone who would advise a little less and do what he was told a little more.
So what makes a successful economy in the 21st century? A combination, surely, of skills, knowledge and a workforce that is valued and respected; the encouragement of entrepreneurism and innovation; access to the greatest possible capital, both financial and intellectual; free access to the widest possible markets; a stable currency; and the ability to survive economic shocks through scale and by avoiding dependence on a single market or commodity. Scotland stands then as a small country but one with a big tradition in intellect, innovation and invention, with world-class universities and power over our own training, skills and education.
In addition, we have unfettered access to a market that is 10 times the size of our own; a stable currency that is backed by the resources of the Bank of England; and access to research funds, technology strategy funding, green technology investment, a defence procurement budget, and pension funds and investment funds far greater than those that we might command ourselves. Moreover, although it was far from painless, we survived the greatest global crisis in the history of banking, even though two Scottish banks were at the very centre of it.
What could be more timely than a debate on the economy? After all, a recent opinion poll told us that the majority of Scots think that the economy should be the Scottish National Party Government’s top priority. Alas, those of us who know this Government well always knew that in fact this would be another debate on independence, because that is easier for the Government than facing up to the real challenges of a fragile recovery that is built on too many jobs that are part time, temporary or zero hours and paid for by more and more families struggling on wages that are already below the living wage and falling, and easier than facing up to the challenges of globalisation, demographic change or pension liabilities. However, those are the real economic challenges that every developed country faces. They are the challenges that Alex Salmond’s adviser Alex Bell told us this week he could not get the SNP to acknowledge—and then he was replaced by someone who would advise a little less and do what he was told a little more.
So what makes a successful economy in the 21st century? A combination, surely, of skills, knowledge and a workforce that is valued and respected; the encouragement of entrepreneurism and innovation; access to the greatest possible capital, both financial and intellectual; free access to the widest possible markets; a stable currency; and the ability to survive economic shocks through scale and by avoiding dependence on a single market or commodity. Scotland stands then as a small country but one with a big tradition in intellect, innovation and invention, with world-class universities and power over our own training, skills and education.
In addition, we have unfettered access to a market that is 10 times the size of our own; a stable currency that is backed by the resources of the Bank of England; and access to research funds, technology strategy funding, green technology investment, a defence procurement budget, and pension funds and investment funds far greater than those that we might command ourselves. Moreover, although it was far from painless, we survived the greatest global crisis in the history of banking, even though two Scottish banks were at the very centre of it.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick)
NPA
Good afternoon. The first item of business is a debate on motion S4M-07734, in the name of John Swinney, on Scotland’s economy.
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth (John Swinney)
SNP
It is now five years since Lehman Brothers collapsed and the United Kingdom, along with much of Europe, tipped into recession. No one should underestimate ju...
Willie Rennie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD)
LD
I am glad to see that the cabinet secretary made it back from Culloden. The cabinet secretary has made a lot of play of the difference between the economic s...
John Swinney
SNP
The outcomes are not the same. As I just said to Parliament, Scotland’s GDP grew by 1.2 per cent in the four quarters to quarter 1 in 2013, while UK growth w...
Margo MacDonald (Lothian) (Ind)
Ind
I ask the minister—urge him, even—to let Mr Rennie explain why not.
John Swinney
SNP
Mr Rennie has made his contribution and I am sure that we will hear from him later.Willie Rennie rose—
John Swinney
SNP
Let us have another intervention from him now.
Willie Rennie
LD
How does Mr Swinney explain last month’s rise in unemployment? How does that tie in with his improvement in Scotland?
John Swinney
SNP
Month-by-month factors clearly affect the employment rate, which is why the Office for National Statistics suggests that it is valuable to compare annual sta...
Margo MacDonald
Ind
Will the minister give way?
John Swinney
SNP
I will give way one more time.
Margo MacDonald
Ind
Does Mr Swinney expect that, after the election, the incoming Westminster Government will cut a bit more?
John Swinney
SNP
We have heard that suggestion from the Office for Budget Responsibility and the UK Government, which gave clear indications during the spending round at the ...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con)
Con
Given the figures that the cabinet secretary has and those that he has published, does he think that we will be in a stronger position over the next five years?
John Swinney
SNP
The debate around that point was reflected in the various scenarios in this morning’s report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The analysis that the IFS...
Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab)
Lab
Is control of interest rates one of the levers that Mr Swinney is talking about?
John Swinney
SNP
As Mr Macintosh well knows, no country that Scotland would compare itself to as a developed western European economy has interest rates that are under politi...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
I now call Iain Gray to speak to and move amendment S4M-07734.1. Mr Gray, you have 10 minutes.14:45
Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
Thank you, Presiding Officer.What could be more timely than a debate on the economy? After all, a recent opinion poll told us that the majority of Scots thin...
Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green)
Green
Given that glowing list of attributes that we enjoy in the current climate, what on earth has been going wrong all these years—even before the recession—with...
Iain Gray
Lab
Mr Harvie’s question is really a question about political will. Interruption.
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Order.
Iain Gray
Lab
If Mr Harvie looks at the poverty statistics, he will see that the gap reduced between 1997 and 2007 but has now stopped reducing. It is political will that ...
Margo MacDonald
Ind
I take everything that the member said about Slovakia and the Czech Republic, but has he checked on the position now?
Iain Gray
Lab
I certainly checked on the facts that I have just given. Those are the things that happened when those countries separated.Even renewable energy—the SNP’s pa...
The Presiding Officer
NPA
Order.
Iain Gray
Lab
I even believe in our capacity to listen to other people’s ideas. I believe that we are good enough and smart enough and should be determined enough to seize...
The Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism (Fergus Ewing)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Iain Gray
Lab
I am sorry; I think that I have taken enough.We have the best of both worlds, and our obligation is to make the most of it. That is what the Scottish people ...
Fergus Ewing
SNP
Will the member give way?