The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Sturgeon’s defence of growth commission ‘desperate’
Nicola Sturgeon has faced criticism from opposition parties after defending an SNPcommissioned economic report on Twitter.
The First Minister praised the “interesting comments” surrounding the Sustainable Growth Commission report published last week.
She then highlighted a series of points, which the Conservatives linked to criticism from independence campaigners over aspects of the economic study, currently under consideration by the SNP.
Director of the proindependence Common Weal thinktank Robin McAlpine has said austerity is “baked in” to the report while former SNP MP George Kerevan said it is “conservative”.
Ms Sturgeon tweeted that the report “explicitly rejects austerity”, stresses the importance of investment and has “deliberately cautious” projections for deficit reduction.
She added: “We have a choice – stay as we are, locked into the Brexit spiral and continued austerity that the Westminster parties offer no alternative to – or decide to equip ourselves with the powers to build our way to a better future.”
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: “This is a visibly desperate move by the First Minister, who’s clearly been rattled by the furious reaction of hardcore independence evangelists in recent days.”