Chancellor’s meal deal is not real deal
Earlier this month, the Chancellor took to his feet to announce what was billed as an ambitious economic recovery programme from the shock waves from coronavirus.
Did it contain a stimulus package worth £80 billion – four per cent of UK GDP – to deliver infrastructure projects that will kickstart investment in our economy?
Did it include borrowing powers for the Scottish Government to enable it to invest in Scotland’s economic priorities?
Did it contain measures to help those who have been excluded from furlough and self-employed income support schemes?
Did it contain tailored support packages for sectors and industries that will take longer to recover from coronavirus and who cannot yet reopen because public health risks remain too great?
It contained none of these commitments. Instead what we got was a discount on eating out, but only on some days of the week.
With many families in my constituency who can’t afford to dine out at all, it strikes me that this package isn’t geared towards supporting those on the lowest incomes, whose livelihoods are most likely to have been lost.
We wanted the real deal for Scotland. Instead, what we got was a meal deal and a fraction of the money that was promised, via the Barnett formula, to support the emergency spending on programmes to support businesses and families during the pandemic.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies found that Scotland was receiving only £21 million in Barnett consequentials for emergency coronavirus spending – well short of the £800 million promised by the UK Government.
This highlighted that the UK Government’s overall spending commitments were nowhere near what is needed.
I am worried about further job losses as the furlough scheme winds down too early for some sectors, with little prospect of extension for those companies that still need it.
In the face of economic emergency, all the Chancellor is doing is shuffling money around, like he did as an investment banker for Goldman Sachs.
The people of Scotland are increasingly realising which of their two governments is on their side.
With Brexit coming down the tracks later in the year too, many will see that the only way to guarantee our future recovery is through the powers on offer as a normal, independent country.