BRIGHTER FUTURE
YOU don’t have to look far to find the innovation, ambition and flair that defines Scotland at its best. When I attended primary school in Paisley, the mills that dominated the town told the story of a town near Glasgow that became an industrial powerhouse. Its highly skilled workers exported the famous Paisley pattern across the globe. The same ambition that built Paisley’s landmark Victorian town hall can now be found in its bid to be the UK City of Culture 2021.
Paisley has undoubtedly had its tough times but the bid has brought the town together, and shows how a strong sense of identity and fresh, vibrant ideas continues to drive progress in the UK.
There are many reasons to cherish our Union, but since I was born in England and spent my formative years in Paisley, the idea of Scotland being central to the UK is personal for me.
Scotland has always been at the forefront of our successes – intellectual, industrial and technological.
Scottish innovators, thinkers, entrepreneurs have driven the success of our nation for centuries, and our fundamental bond continues to enrich both Scotland and the UK today. For while Scotland continues to contribute an enormous amount to the UK’s economy, politics, culture and so much more, the UK Government plays a key role in providing a strong framework for growth across the nation.
Next week will see the annual stats published showing UK and Scottish Government spending. Thanks to the UK Government’s careful stewardship of the economy, we have been able to tackle the UK’s deficit while increasing investment in Scotland’s future. Since 2015, more than £950 million has been added to its capital budget to improve roads, broadband and housing.
But securing Scotland’s economic future also depends on the Scottish Government using its new powers and resources to build a modern, competitive economy – such as harnessing new welfare powers to help people into work, and ensuring young people have access to the best education and training.
A decade of failure under the SNP has seen declines in maths, reading and science. Scotland’s education system, once the best in the United Kingdom, recently recorded its worst results compared with other leading economies.
Children going through schools under the SNP are finishing less equipped and performing less well than their counterparts in England and Northern Ireland, and fewer of Scotland’s most deprived children go to university than in any other part of the UK.
And we all know why that is – because the SNP only cares about independence. Everything else is secondary. By taking its eye off the ball, it isn’t just failing Scotland’s young people.
It is wasting the potential that Scotland has to be the heart of our modern, global UK economy – a leader in innovation, technology and digital transformation exporting next-generation goods, services and ideas to the rest of the world.
Meanwhile, Ruth Davidson and the Scottish Conservatives have offered a bold vision for Scotland’s families, communities, businesses and young people.
Her plan puts diversity and choice, rather than uniformity, at the heart of the Scottish educational system so we can turn round Scottish schools and prepare young people for the future, and ensures we support businesses to grow and invest.
And the UK Government is supporting Scotland every step of the way. Every spending announcement made on devolved areas such as education and health still benefits Scotland through the Barnett system.
UK Government decisions mean the spending power of the Scottish Government for your public services has increased by more than £750 per household between 2016 and 2021.
The customs paper we published last week provides the two ambitious approaches to reassure Scottish companies they will be able to continue growing their businesses without disruption after we leave the EU, and expand their markets both within and beyond Europe.
Scottish success stories are central to our vision for a thrivfall ing post-Brexit economy, with whisky alone worth more than £5 billion to the UK economy and accounting for 20 per cent of our food and drink exports.
The Department for International Trade has already begun working on how export tariffs for goods such as whisky and salmon could be reduced with key partners around the world.
The record UK employment statistics published last week show that since 2010, 213,000 more people across Scotland have found work.
The UK Government has backed Scottish businesses to create jobs by cutting corporation tax, enabling them to invest in training and modern equipment – and corporation tax will further to 17 per cent in 2020. Since 2014, we have committed almost £1 billion of investment for Scotland’s City Deals to spur innovation and drive research and technological advancement, so we can create the high-skill jobs of the future in industries such as robotics and creative technology.
The UK Government has taken bold action to ensure Scotland’s businesses can compete on the world stage. And the UK Government is also helping Scottish families keep more money in their pocket for the things that matter, whether that’s improving your home or a trip away.
We have cut income tax by £1,000 for basic rate payers. Our fuel duty freeze is saving the average motorist £130 each year. Tax-Free Childcare offers working parents with children up to the age of 12 up to £2,000 a year towards their childcare costs, helping people pick up more hours if they want to and supporting Scotland’s entrepreneurs and self-employed.
Scotland has reached a crucial stage in its devolution – where it can use the UK’s broad shoulders to its advantage, and at the same time make its own decisions on public services, tax and welfare.
It’s time for the SNP to put aside their obsession with independence and start acting like a responsible Government, focusing on securing a brighter future for Scotland’s young people, building a stronger economy.
The people of Scotland have shown time and time again what they can do when given the opportunity. The Paisley textile workers built a world-class industry from scratch. Now industries in the digital and technology sectors are already leading the way and showing endless potential for Scotland’s future.
The Scottish Government needs to seize the opportunities available and deliver for the next generations, so the kind of ambition you see in Scotland can thrive.
Industries in digital and technology sectors are leading way