Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 14 June 2017
14 Jun 2017 · S5 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Scotland’s Economy (Opportunities for Growth)
I am happy to do so. The member will find that much of the explanation lies in the number of students who are going into higher education, who are, of course, economically inactive. There are 30,000 more of those than there were previously, and the rate is higher than the rate in the rest of the UK.
It is interesting that the member says that the Conservatives welcome today’s figures because, two years ago, at around this time, Murdo Fraser said:
“The Scottish Government must explain why unemployment rates north of the border are now significantly higher than the rest of the UK”.
Does that mean that the UK Government should now explain why unemployment is much higher in the UK than in Scotland? It will be interesting to see whether that issue is addressed in the Tory speeches.
In the same item of business
The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh)
NPA
The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-06045, in the name of Keith Brown, on Scotland’s economy, opportunities for growth. 14:41
The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work (Keith Brown)
SNP
I am grateful for the opportunity to set out to the Parliament Scotland’s economic strengths, our resilience to the economic challenges that we undoubtedly f...
Dean Lockhart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
We, too, welcome the fall in unemployment that has been announced today. However, like the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, we are concerned about the fact tha...
Keith Brown
SNP
I am happy to do so. The member will find that much of the explanation lies in the number of students who are going into higher education, who are, of course...
Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
The rate is going down.
Keith Brown
SNP
It is 4.6 per cent, which is the same as it was in the previous quarter. I know that it is disappointing to the Conservatives and the Labour Party that the ...
Murdo Fraser
Con
I think that we all agree that we want to see more growth in the Scottish economy. When will the Scottish Government publish some results from its growth com...
Keith Brown
SNP
That commission is not related to the Government. It is not part of the Government, so we do not report on it to the Parliament. I know that Murdo Fraser kno...
Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD)
LD
Will the cabinet secretary give way?
Keith Brown
SNP
I am sorry, but I do not have much time left. Will the Conservatives guarantee that money if they are successful in dragging Scotland out of the EU and the ...
Willie Rennie
LD
Today, the First Minister has written to the Prime Minister about Europe, saying that her platform on the European single market did not “garner support” and...
Keith Brown
SNP
I have not mentioned independence in today’s debate, yet Willie Rennie, who is utterly obsessed with it, has once again sought to hoover it into the debate. ...
Dean Lockhart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con)
Con
The Government has today presented a wide-ranging motion on the economy, which is a subject that it was curiously silent on before the election. Nonetheless,...
Gillian Martin (Aberdeenshire East) (SNP)
SNP
I am interested to know the member’s feelings about the post-study work visa. The issues with that are stopping us recruiting people from other parts of the ...
Dean Lockhart
Con
We recognise that that is an issue, and it will be involved in the Brexit negotiations. I will address the areas in which stakeholders across Scotland have ...
Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Dean Lockhart
Con
Let me make a bit of progress; I will take an intervention later. The UK Government has appointed two fintech envoys to explore how Scotland can capitalise ...
John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Dean Lockhart
Con
Not right now; let me just finish this point. Stakeholders are also calling for a more competitive tax system in Scotland. Thirteen leading business organis...
John Mason
SNP
I thank the member for giving way; I think that it was to me rather than to Ms Martin. Dean Lockhart talked about a competitive tax rate, by which I think h...
Dean Lockhart
Con
I do not have time to go into the Laffer curve right now. However, we just need to look at the high streets across Scotland to see that the large business su...
Dean Lockhart
Con
Not now. It is time for the SNP to remove the uncertainty of a second independence referendum and to get on with the day job. I move amendment S5M-06045.1,...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
Complacency and denial are the twin problems facing the SNP in relation to the economy: complacency on the state of the economy and denial over a second inde...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
—in a minute—and the rest of us think that she had a calamitous election. Dropping from 50 per cent of the vote to 36 per cent is part of a pattern of declin...
Keith Brown
SNP
On the question of last week’s election, as long as the Scottish Labour Party is content to be third—with the worst result that it has had since 1918—we will...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Christine Grahame)
SNP
There is time in hand, Ms Baillie, so I will give you the time back. You do not need to worry about whether an intervention is a speech—that is for me to dec...
Jackie Baillie
Lab
Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I am always in your good hands. I say to the SNP that its priorities are entirely wrong. Frankly, anybody who can de...
John Mason
SNP
Will the member give way?
Jackie Baillie
Lab
No—I do not have time. Our economy has lost out on money and jobs as a result of the SNP’s mismanagement. If we look at the growth sectors that our enterpri...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
No, I have given you extra time. Please move your amendment.