Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 28 January 2021
I thank Murdo Fraser for his kind wishes at the beginning of his statement.
Murdo Fraser mentioned wasting time. I am standing here delivering a budget that will invest £1.1 billion in skills, £6 billion in capital infrastructure and £3.5 billion for social security and welfare payments. Meanwhile, of course, his leader is breaking the spirit of the rules on essential travel—to do what? Apparently, it is to make the case for the union, as he is running scared because after poll after poll shows support for independence.
On the substance, I said in my statement that I am grateful for the additional funding. Financially, of course, the UK Government has engineered our dependence and reliance on it by denying us reasonable borrowing powers. It is insulting people’s intelligence to suggest that Scotland could not borrow—as every other country round the world can—to intervene.
However, if the Tories want to claim full responsibility for the economic interventions, they must also take responsibility for the dithering on and delays to the extension of furlough, for the huge delay right now to extending non-domestic rates relief and for the potential for increased unemployment in April if furlough is not extended.
Murdo Fraser’s last point was about the additional funding. Some £1.3 billion has been confirmed in the UK spending review. That is to cover health, transport and jobs. We know that the extension to non-domestic rates relief for a full year would cost £900 million. The UK Government is sitting on £21 billion of announced but undistributed Covid funding. Therefore, if the Tories want to extend that relief for a full year, they should ask their party leaders in Westminster to release that £21 billion. As soon as I have confirmation that it has been released, I will most certainly extend non-domestic rates relief.