Sturgeon needs to look ‘closer to home’ on Scotland’s economic woes

29 Mar 2018

Nicola Sturgeon should stop blaming Brexit and start examining her own government’s record when it comes to the economy, the Scottish Conservatives have said.

A report by the respected Fraser of Allander Institute this week blamed a cluttered landscape of strategies for choking Scotland’s economic growth since the SNP came to power in 2007.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson reeled off the “myriad” of approaches the SNP had launched, none of which have sparked an economic turnaround.

Growth north of the border is a third of the whole UK, while the confidence of small businesses is also significantly lower.

However, at First Minister’s Questions today, Ms Sturgeon instead blamed Brexit – which won’t happen for another year – for the country’s past and present economic struggles.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said:

“Scotland is economically underperforming, and it has been since the SNP came to power more than a decade ago.

“Instead of blaming Brexit, Nicola Sturgeon needs to look closer to home.

“We’ve had 10 wasted years under this SNP government, and its record is nothing short of appalling.

“We have the lowest rate of business growth, the worst productivity in eight years, and the weakest projected growth of any country in the EU and OECD.

“The SNP can’t blame Brexit for any of that – it’s something that’s not even happened yet.

“It’s the decisions taken by the nationalists to make Scotland the highest-taxed part of the UK and hammer businesses with unnecessary levies which are causing the real damage.”