150,000 SCOTS WHO HAVE NEVER DONE A DAY’S WORK
As SNP is accused of ‘fantasy’ ambition in its blueprint for independence, the stark reality:
MORE than 150,000 Scots have never done a day’s work in their lives – a figure that has soared since the SNP came to power.
The number of people who have failed to ever carry out paid employment has risen by 16 per cent in a decade, figures show. The damning data comes as the SNP prepares to publish its economic blueprint for independence tomorrow – and will claim breaking up Britain will make Scotland wealthier.
The Growth Commission report will state that the average worker will contribute an extra £4,100 per person to the economy after a generation – a claim derided as ‘fantasy’ by critics in light of the unemployment figures.
The statistics have now sparked further calls for the SNP to ‘get on with the day job’ and stop ‘obsessing’ about separation.
Scottish Conservative economy spokesman Dean Lockhart said: ‘The SNP needs to admit the full picture when it comes to unemployment.
‘The fact is that the number of people who have never worked in Scotland has increased since the SNP came to power in 2007 and there are now more people who are “economically inactive”.
‘The SNP is desperate to cover up
A NEW blueprint for breaking up Britain has been branded a ‘fantasy’ by claiming Scotland would be richer a generation after it left the UK.
A long-awaited report from the Scottish Nationalists on their new case for separation will argue that leaving the UK will eventually provide a boost to the economy of £4,100 per person.
But opponents said the public will ‘be wary of fantasy numbers plucked from thin air by the SNP’.
Nicola Sturgeon ordered the review of the economic case for independence after Scots voters rejected her party’s key proposals in the 2014 referendum.
She has said she will use the document’s release to ‘restart’ the debate about separation.
The report, to be published tomorrow, will claim that Scotland can emulate the world’s 12 bestperforming small advanced economies, including Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore and Switzerland, if it severs its ties with the UK.
But critics pointed out that the SNP is already in charge of Scotland’s economy – and has presided over growth which is trailing well behind the UK and most other developed nations.
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: ‘The economic transformation Scotland needs and wants will not be delivered by Scotland leaving the UK. No amount of promises made by SNP advisers and politicians will change that. The people of Scotland will rightly be wary of fantasy numbers plucked from thin air by the SNP and promised to every man, woman and child in the country in the event of Scotland leaving the UK.’
The Sustainable Growth Commission, led by former Nationalist MSP Andrew Wilson, argues that small economies have performed better than larger ones consistently over the past 25 years.
It says that 12 key lessons can be learned from the economies of Denmark, Finland and New Zealand. These include: ‘taxation for economic development’ – it points out that the country would be ‘not competing as a low-tax location’; being ‘migration-friendly’; and having a ‘focus on innovation’ and growing exports, ‘exploiting Scot- land’s resource endowment sustainably’.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said: ‘This is exactly the kind of nonsense that turned people off separation the first time round.
‘The SNP can pluck out any number of fanciful examples, but it won’t change the fact Scotland is far more prosperous and secure as part of the UK.’
A three-page summary of the economic framework issued by the SNP yesterday makes no mention of the oil industry, which was central to the Yes campaign’s economic blueprint in the run-up to the 2014 referendum, despite warnings that its volatility could put public finances at risk.
It claims independence ‘would help Scotland emulate the growth rates of comparable nations’.
But the report will also say it would take a generation to catch up with other successful economies. Mr Wilson said: ‘Learning from 12 successful small nations, our report will present a framework that demonstrates how Scotland can emulate the best performing economies and societies in the world.’
The Liberal Democrats said the SNP plan would ‘compound the chaos of Brexit with independence on top’.
It has emerged there will be no media event tomorrow when the document is launched, meaning neither Mr Wilson nor Miss Sturgeon will face scrutiny or questions from the Press – a decision the Scottish Conservatives have called ‘cowardly’.
‘No mention of the oil industry’