Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 16 March 2021
Clearly, it is a private capital investment plan to support the structures whereby investors would seek out and be aware of investment opportunities in Scotland. That applies across business investment and real estate investment, and infrastructure investment in green ports might be part of that. There is an obvious synergy between the global capital investment plan and green ports, both of which are underpinned by our commitment to net zero and fair work.
As John Mason knows, we are seeking to adapt the UK Government’s free port model to better suit the Scottish context. We need to direct public resource into originating, structuring and promoting investments that support our transition to net zero and create new, high-quality fair work opportunities through infrastructure such as green ports. The plan can help us to attract the right investments for green ports.
We cannot make any more progress on the publication of our applicant prospectus for green ports because of an inordinate and unacceptable delay by the UK Government in finalising its parts of the plan. There is now a real risk that the pre-election period in Scotland will begin without the applicant prospectus being launched because of the UK Government’s delay and prevarication, for which we see no obvious reason.
I am concerned that the delay suggests that the Tories’ free port policy might be about a race to the bottom, because they have failed to commit to the requirements that, for us, are red lines—fair work first and the transition to net zero. I make it clear that we in Scotland will not allow such a race-to-the-bottom model and that we remain firmly committed to ensuring that fair work first and net zero are at the heart of, and underpin, any green port model in Scotland.