Engineering drives Scottish exports while overseas sales of drinks fall
cow for calling Mr “conman”.
Mr cameron’s announcement followed calls by former tory prime minister Sir John Major for the government to impose a windfall tax on the back of bill hikes.
But the pledge by Mr cameron to “roll back on green taxes” was met with visible shock by Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister Nick clegg and provoked a furious response from Lib Dem coalition partners, with Mr Alexander saying that the agreed plan was to actually increase them instead.
he said: “we have made commitments on environmental lev-
Miliband
a ies as a coalition – the conservatives haven’t put forward any alternative proposals. But we as Liberal Democrats will support our commitment to the environment and don’t want jobs in Scotland and the rest of the UK which are supported by these levies to be undermined.”
he added: “there is no commitment to roll back environmental levies. Quite the contrary, it is a very important part of our long-term strategy to tackle climate change and the security of our energy supply.”
Mr cameron made his remark following heavy criticism of environmental levies from the energy sector led by Scottish and Southern energy (SSe) chief executive Alistair Phillips-Davies, whose company has put bills up by 8.4 per cent.
Mr cameron said: “i want more companies, i want better regulation, i want better deals for consumers. But, yes, we also need to roll back the green charges that he put in place as energy secretary.”
As well as angering Mr Alexander, the Prime Minister’s comments put him on collision course with Lib Dem energy Secretary ed Davey, who earlier this month said it would be “silly” to cut green levies which help low-income households install energy-efficiency measures. MANUFActUreD export sales grew in the three months to June, boosted by a strong performance from the engineering industry, new statistics show.
overall exports increased 3.5 per cent in the second quarter of this year, compared with the previous quarter, according to the latest index of Manufactured exports. the increase was driven by a 7.2 per cent expansion in overseas sales of goods from engineering and allied industries, including a 25 per cent rise in exports of transport equipment.
exports of refined petroleum, chemical and pharmaceutical products increased by 4.2 per cent over the quarter. there were also increases in exports of textiles, clothing, leather, wood, paper and printing products, metals and metal products.
the food and drink sector recorded a quarterly fall of 2 per cent, including a 2.5 per cent fall in exports of drink. on an annual basis, comparing the last four quarters with the previous four quarters, manufactured exports fell by 1.8 per cent.
over the 12-month period, export volumes across all sectors declined, with the exception of food and drink and metals and metal products.
Finance secretary John Swinney said: “Scotland’s manufactured exports are continuing to thrive on the international stage, showing the sustained demand for Scottish manufactured products across the world.
“Last week’s GDP figures show that Scotland’s economy grew 0.6 per cent from April to June 2013, the same as in the UK over the same period. compared with the same quarter in 2012, the Scottish economy grew by 1.8 per cent over the year, outperforming the UK where the economy grew by 1.3 per cent.
“By continuing to invest in and increase exports we can help build sustainable economic growth for Scotland and highlight the country’s position as a place of international trade and investment.”
Neil Francis, director of international operations at Scottish Development international, the global arm of Scottish enterprise, said: “these latest figures reinforce continued global demand for Scottish products, particularly those within the engineering, textiles, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors.”