REACTION

“The SNP cannot escape the fact it dragged Scotland halfway to recession. Scotland continues to under-perform the UK economy on an annual basis at this vital time for growth.” Tory economy spokesman Dean Lockhart. “This was a narrow escape for our fragile economy. The long-term trend paints a worrying picture of Scotland’s economic performance, with the average annual change of just 0.5 per cent – a quarter of the Uk-wide growth.” Labour economy spokeswoman Jackie Baillie. “Scotland has had a brush with recession. The big picture is of an erratic and patchy economy. One quarter down followed by one quarter up is clear evidence. The long term route out of this is significant investment in education and skills.” Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie. “Despite dire predictions from the Scottish Tory and Labour parties, who seemed to relish the prospect of a potential recession in Scotland, our economy has bounced back and outperformed the UK in the first quarter of 2017.” SNP MSP Ivan Mckee. “Whether or not the quarterly figures are above or over the line is largely unimportant. What is much more important is the longerterm trend. In this regard, today’s figures are welcome progress but policymakers will be hoping for a few more quarters of growth at this pace before they are reassured.” Professor Graeme Roy, Fraser of Allander Institute. “Manufacturing has bounced back but remains well down on the level of output seen two years ago and private sector services continue to struggle, especially compared with the UK as a whole.” Professor John Mclaren, www. scottishtrends.co.uk