Team to draw up fiscal framework

FIRST Minister Alex Salmond has announced the appointment of four leading economists to create an economic framework for Scotland.

The Fiscal Commission Working Group, which includes two Nobel Prize winners, will advise on the creation of a Fiscal Commission, which the SNP hopes will secure financial responsibility and market confidence in Scotland.

Sir Jim Mirrlees and Professor Joseph Stiglitz, both Nobel laureates, will join professors Andrew Hughes Hallett and Frances Ruane to oversee the work of civil servants in laying down a fiscal architecture for Scotland.

Mr Salmond said: “In Scotland, fiscal discipline is not a constraint on our ambition. We consider it a prerequisite to economic prosperity.

“Responsibly managing the budget of an independent Scotland will help deliver the investment in growth and the creation of a wealthier and fairer society that is at the heart of our a r g u me n t s for independence.

“With independence Scotland will have normal control of its public finances and the key economic levers vital to boost sustainable economic growth.”

However, Labour criticised the plans, saying the SNP has put Scotland “on pause until 2014” and is ignoring joblessness in f avo u r of plans for separation.

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, Margaret Curran, said: “Scotland is in the midst of a national unemployment crisis. The thousands of unemployed Scots need a First Minister and a government that is focused on the here and now and tackling the unemployment crisis our country currently faces.”