Ross says SNP have let down business

New Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has accused the SNP of “letting down” businesses and the economy, as he launched a new plan to boost jobs in the wake of Covid-19.

Mr Ross laid out proposals which he said would “power up Scotland” after coronavirus and the lockdown pushed the country into recession.

But the new Conservative leader was unable to say how much the proposals would cost, or how many jobs they would either create or safeguard.

He said: “These are proposals both short term and long term I think we can have to secure jobs and get people back into employment.

“It is a series of measures I think both in the short term could immediately be activated and longer term worked towards to get the economy going again during this recession and as we come out of this pandemic at the other side.”

The Scottish Tories want to see the introduction of new sectorspecific job security councils, based on a similar scheme in Sweden to help workers who have been laid off find new work.

They are also calling for a town centre rescue plan to help small local shops, and a “Scotland First” procurement strategy, which they say would see the Scottish Government spend more money locally.

The Conservatives’ new Power Up Scotland plan goes on to propose a hardship fund be set up, for businesses that have to deal with more localised lockdowns.

It also proposes a fully integrated transport system and the upgrading of the M8 motorway between Glasgow and Edinburgh to three lanes throughout.

Ewan MacDonald-Russell, head of policy at the Scottish Retail Consortium, said about the proposals: “This is a detailed paper with a number of measures which deserves detailed consideration.”

Meanwhile Andrew McRae, of the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland, said: “This new publication talks to many of the chronic problems that Scottish smaller firms face.”

But SNP depute leader Keith Brown said: “Douglas Ross’s plans have been shown to be utterly hollow in the middle and to fall foul of his own party’s so-called ‘UK internal market’ plans, which he supports.”

He added: “The first minister’s Programme for Government will deliver progressive policies focused on dealing with the economic, health, and social crisis caused by coronavirus.”