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“Budget bribes won’t compensate for austerity agenda”

Finance Secretary John Swinney has called on the UK Government to take a new approach in next week’s budget to secure the recovery through additional capital investment, improved access to finance and no additional cuts to spending.

Speaking ahead of the UK Budget on March 19 John Swinney highlighted the Scottish Government’s rejection of Westminster’s approach to the economy and public finances and said that an independent Scotland would take a different approach that would boost jobs, support investment, and tackle the long term challenges facing Scotland’s economy.

With the referendum on independence taking place in just over six months and the Chancellor planning a further £25bn of cuts to public spending, Mr Swinney said that whatever the Chancellor’s actions in this budget they would not compensate for the austerity agenda and the cuts that would come if Scotland stays under Westminster rule.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said:

“In his final budget before the referendum the UK Chancellor may be tempted to offer Scotland a series of promises, but no number of budget bribes can compensate for the impact of the austerity agenda or the decades of Westminster mismanagement of our economy.

“The current Westminster system is fundamentally flawed – yet for as long as Scotland remains governed by Westminster our economy and public services will have to face the consequences of budget decisions made by a government Scotland did not elect.

“While we are now seeing promising signs of economic growth, the fact that the UK Chancellor is planning to impose a further £25bn of cuts and austerity on the people of Scotland underlines the failure of the UK Government’s approach to the economy and continues to put our recovery at risk.

“The latest government expenditure figures show that Scotland has taken a unique approach in investing in capital spending which has paid off with the latest Scottish GDP figures showing the economy is growing 2.1% per cent, which is faster than the UK.

"Successive UK budgets have undermined the Scottish Government’s ability to support economic revival and I urge the Chancellor to refrain from imposing any further cuts on Scotland."

Calling for the Chancellor to take the opportunity of his final pre-referendum budget to change his policies and to support Scottish industry, Mr Swinney added:

“We need action to create a positive environment for investment in business research and development and we need action to ensure small business has access to a diverse range of finance – something the UK has failed to deliver for Scotland.

“We need a fair welfare system and I challenge the Chancellor to use the budget statement to listen to and act on our repeated calls to remove the cap on Discretionary Housing Payments to allow us to help the 72,000 households in Scotland who are suffering from the effects of the ‘Bedroom Tax’.

“Key Scottish industries which the UK Government has been so keen to endorse recently like whisky and the north sea need support with a fair tax system. With numerous substantial tax changes affecting the North Sea in the last decade the UK Government should abandon plans to reform bareboat chartering which would damage exploration in the North Sea.

“And as Scotland’s Future shows, we need an effective industrial strategy, boosting productivity and exports and increasing innovation and participation in the workforce, something that only independence will deliver.

“Until Scotland decides on its future, in his final pre-referendum budget it is essential that the Chancellor and the UK Government adopts a new approach to ensure that we see a sustained economic recovery, and that the benefits of this are widely shared."