Meeting of the Parliament 19 December 2023
It is very good to see the Presiding Officer back in the chair. [Applause.]
What was not so good was the extraordinarily late delivery of a copy of what is an important budget statement. I consider that to be a discourtesy to the Parliament.
In the Deputy First Minister’s very lengthy letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 20 November, she set out all her demands for the Scottish economy. Shona Robison wanted more money from the UK Government for public services, increased capital investment for infrastructure and more money for public sector pay increases. She said:
“Businesses across Scotland have faced various challenges in recent years”,
so
“I encourage you to take action by using the reserved tax levers at your disposal to support them”.
I have read that letter several times, and I cannot see anywhere any acknowledgement—there is none whatsoever—that the Scottish Government takes any responsibility for the current fiscal circumstances in Scotland. Indeed, there was a complete abrogation of responsibility for the running of the Scottish economy not just for this financial year but for the past 16 years. Not only is that disingenuous, but it will not wash with the public, because the current fiscal situation in Scotland reflects the policy decisions that have been made right here in Holyrood by the Scottish National Party during all the time that it has been in government.
Pandering to the Greens most of the time, ministers have failed to improve public services; they have failed to undertake public sector reform, which economists and analysts have warned about for years; and they have failed miserably to grow the economy, thereby starving Scotland of the much-needed revenue that is required to close the gap relating to the huge bills for public expenditure. Indeed, if the Scottish economy had grown at the same rate as the UK economy has grown over the time that the SNP has been in power, we would have many extra billions of pounds to spend, just as we would have if billions of taxpayers’ money had not been wasted on failed projects.