Meeting of the Parliament 01 April 2015
The Scottish Conservatives want to have a focused and analytical debate on the subject, specifically on the issue of full fiscal autonomy and the likely effect of that on the economy and public finances of Scotland.
Since September, the Scottish Government has had a clear stance on the issue. It wants full fiscal autonomy as soon as possible. Mr Swinney said in the chamber three short weeks ago:
“I believe that Scotland should be fully responsible for raising and spending all its own resources.”—[Official Report, 11 March 2015; c 26.]
There are three reasons why we want to have this debate today. First, we do not think that anywhere near enough attention has been given to an issue that would represent a fundamental change to Scotland, and it could be a potential reality if the Scottish Government is in a position of influence in the coming months.
Secondly, a number of experts have suggested that we would be worse off under full fiscal autonomy—not just slightly worse off, but markedly worse off, with some frightening figures out there from independent experts. We have seen such figures from people who are against full fiscal autonomy—that is to be expected—but we have also seen them from people who are neutral as regards full fiscal autonomy. This morning, we saw them from somebody who is in favour of full fiscal autonomy but who has the maturity to accept and admit that there would be challenging times for Scotland, particularly in the short term, were we to go down that path. If only the Scottish Government was as open and candid as the person we heard this morning.
This is important, because the entire package is being sold by the Scottish Government and the Scottish National Party at this election as the only way to end austerity. They are not saying that we might be round about the same or that we might be slightly worse off. They are saying that we will be so much better off that there will be no requirement for any spending reductions whatsoever over the course of the next Parliament. They even have the audacity to suggest that the proposal would boost the revenues that are available for the Scottish Government to spend.