Scotland’s growth is the lowest for 60 years

I was surprised when I read the column (Observer, January 3) from Bruce Crawford MSP suggesting there will be a cut to Scotland’s budget from the UK block grant.

There was no mention that the Scottish Government’s budget received £2 billion extra investment courtesy of the UK Government’s budget.

The respected Fraser of Allander Institute made this very clear in its December report when it said: “The Scottish Government’s total block grant is on track to increase between 2016-17 and 2019-20.” The simple fact is that there are no “Tory cuts” coming from Westminster.

There was also no mention of the dire economic forecasts of the Scottish Fiscal Commission which is projecting that for the next four years, Scotland’s economy will increase by less than one per cent. This is a fraction of the growth expected for the rest of the UK. Such low trends in Scottish growth have not been witnessed in 60 years.

If there are going to be cuts in public spending in Scotland then the real cause is the SNP’s economic incompetence in not growing the Scottish economy over the past decade.

The budget made it clear it will be the hard-working people of Stirling, and across Scotland who will pay for the SNP’s economic incompetence through tax rises and reductions in local government funding. The token tax reductions for others will be swallowed up by the inevitable Council Tax increases just around the corner.

Scotland used to have an enviable education system, healthcare police force and sound economy. After a decade of SNP government, this is sadly no longer the case.

Dean Lockhart MSP Mid-Scotland and Fife