Meeting of the Parliament 19 June 2024
I will start by approaching the debate very much in the spirit that the Government is offering—the economy is too important to be discussed only in the narrow frame of partisan jibes, discussion and disagreement. I think that there are broad areas where there probably is disagreement and broad areas that are, frankly, very complicated and require an open approach, a pragmatic discussion and an examination of the different ideas in order to secure the future that we want for everyone.
I very much welcome the Government’s use of the word “growth”. That is where I will begin my remarks, because growth is really important for three key reasons. First, we, on the Labour benches, believe that the best way to eradicate poverty is by increasing access to well-paid, highly productive, high-wage jobs. That is possible only if there is growth. Growth for growth’s sake is not very useful. I know that Ross Greer is not in the chamber, but we were on “Politics Scotland” earlier and he said that gross domestic product is too crude a measure. I agree, but GDP per head is fundamentally important, and it is a measure that I will return to.
The second key reason is demographic change. If we are to organise our economy with a working-age population that is smaller than the post-working-age population, we need growth. We need to get more people doing more productive jobs, and that will not be easy.
Finally, if we are to realise our net zero potential—if we are to have a 21st century energy economy that is based on renewables—we need growth and investment. We need our energy to be produced more efficiently, which will be delivered only if we achieve growth.