Indyref 2 is a ‘lost cause’ on economy
Stark admission by top independence supporter
A PROMINENT independence campaigner has admitted that the case for Scotland leaving the UK is a ‘lost cause’ unless the economy improves.
Michael Fry, the historian who led the pro-separation Wealthy Nation group in the lead up to the 2014 referendum, has urged Nicola Sturgeon to make the economy her top priority.
He spoke out ahead of GDP figures due to be published today which will show whether Scotland is in recession for the first time since 2012.
Mr Fry said: ‘It is time for the Government to switch its focus to economic growth as the main means of carrying the nation forward. The project of reducing inequality has after all failed.’
He added: ‘We will probably learn that Scotland has slid into recession after two quarters of falling output. It is all the more galling that the UK economy is staging a modest recovery. Brexit can therefore not be the explanation of the Scottish predicament.’
Mr Fry called for a cut in the rate of income tax and a ban on all increases in public expenditure between now and the next Scottish parliament elections in 2021.
He said: ‘Unless we at least match the growth rate elsewhere – one of the SNP’s forgotten promises – then the second referendum on independence is a lost cause.
‘What are the doom-mongers and the nay-sayers going to say as polling day approaches? Their slogans will be, “vote for Union and subsidy”, “vote for independence and poverty”. ‘Unless we have raised the nation’s growth rate, there will be no answer to those cynical slogans.’
Ahead of today’s GDP figures, the Scottish Conservatives published a five-point plan for boosting the economy, including abolishing the controversial ‘large business supplement’ to bring business rates into line with the rest of the UK and removing the threat of an independence vote.
Tory economy spokesman Dean Lockhart said: ‘Scotland stands on the brink of recession and the Nationalists have no one to blame but themselves... The Scottish Government has to adopt these ideas to kickstart Scotland’s economy, and at least begin to catch up with other parts of Britain.’
Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said: ‘Scotland has an economy that is erratic and unstable. Growth has been sporadic and unemployment has varied.
‘If Scotland is in a recession then the First Minister will seriously need to think about a lot more than just independence.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘While we of course recognise the continuing challenges for the Scottish economy, Scotland’s unemployment rate is at a record low, the productivity gap with the UK is closing and [we] achieved a record-breaking year for foreign direct investment projects in Scotland in 2016.’
THE number of Scots in ‘insecure’ jobs has risen by 22 per cent since 2011, according to research commissioned by the Trades Union Congress. An additional 40,000 people have taken on temporary or casual jobs, often with no guaranteed hours or baseline employment rights.
‘Scotland on brink of recession’