Meeting of the Parliament 28 January 2026
I will be brief. I know that the SSI will pass, but the Scottish Greens will oppose it, for many of the same reasons that we oppose a similar measure relating to freeports.
Freeports and investment zones are both rooted in the discredited idea that tax breaks and deregulation will be good for the economy and therefore good for society. They will certainly be good for the vested interests involved, but it is those vested interests that will hang on to that benefit. In addition, there is at least as much evidence that those schemes displace economic activity as there is that they generate anything additional.
Even once the Scottish National Party has decided to accept the offer of modern variants of discredited 1980s economic policy, it could have attached conditions. It could have restricted the tax breaks so that companies using tax havens do not qualify—it has not done that. It could have ensured that companies that pay poverty wages do not qualify—it has not done that. The Scottish Government has attached those conditions to other policies after persistent pressure from the Greens, and, in committee, the minister was unable to explain why they have not been applied here.
For those reasons, the Greens will oppose the measure.
21:58