Business hub bid to woo the ‘dark star’
HER predecessor Alex Salmond famously described London as a ‘dark star’, sucking in money and power at Scotland’s expense.
But Nicola Sturgeon has been determined to court the English capital and is now even planning to set up a business hub there.
The First Minister knows she is under pressure on the economy, which continues to struggle compared to the rest of the UK.
During a visit to Ferguson’s shipyard in Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire, which her Government helped save, she talked about the importance of exports and outside investment to spurring on the Scottish economy. The SNP’s economic plan includes:
Triple the number of exporting advisers in Scotland.
Fund new innovation and investment hubs in London, Dublin and Brussels.
A new Innovation Prize for turning ideas into businesses, jobs and growth.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘A re-elected SNP Government will put in place a series of ambitious plans to ensure our economy is able to meet its full potential.
‘While the SNP in government would guarantee a relentless focus on continuing to improve our economy and create jobs, the other parties have so far been unable to string a coherent economic plan together – with the Tories continuing to be wedded to George Osborne’s austerity plans and Labour’s only idea on the economy seeming to be hiking taxes on low-earners in Scotland.’
Liz Cameron, chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said the nation’s ‘economy is on a knife edge between growth and recession’ adding: ‘It is imperative that our new Scottish Government puts the economy at the centre of its plan for government, systematically addressing those factors under the Scottish parliament’s control that could be used to make Scotland the most competitive place in the UK to do business.’