Tag Archive for economy

Change of Course Needed on Economy – SNP Table Queen’s Speech Amendment

May 14, 2013 Stewart Hosie MP No comments

The SNP has today [14 May] tabled an amendment to the Queen’s Speech calling for a change in economic policy to boost growth and jobs. The amendment will say that the programme announced “fails to meet the aspirations of the people of Scotland.”

SNP Treasury Spokesperson Stewart Hosie MP is expected to highlight the reported £11.5 billion extra cuts to be demanded in the forthcoming spending review and say, “The few sensible measures in the Queen’s Speech will be overwhelmed by the further Tory cuts expected to be announced in June.”

Commenting ahead of the House of Commons debate, Stewart Hosie MP said:

“The Prime Minister was wrong when he said this package would, ‘cut the deficit, grow the economy, deliver a better future for our children’ and win the global race’. Instead we have a continuation of the failed UK policy of austerity with little or nothing to stimulate growth.

“Rather than competing and winning, this UK Government has set Scotland on track for a lost decade of austerity under the Westminster system – underlining exactly why we need the powers of an independent Scotland.

“UK policy has seen a flat-lining economy and worse, forecasts of more than one in four children being forced into poverty. Everyone knows policy needs to change. Even the IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard said the UK was, “playing with fire” if it allowed this economic stagnation to continue.

“The package of austerity will never meet the aspirations of the people of Scotland.

“Only with independence, having full powers at Holyrood, will we have the opportunity to do things differently – and better.”

NEW BANK OF ENGLAND BOSS CALLS UK “CRISIS ECONOMY”

April 19, 2013 Stewart Hosie MP No comments

Stewart Hosie MP
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

George Osborne has suffered another embarrassing blow this week as the Bank of England’s next governor- who has been appointed by the Chancellor- has downplayed hopes of a boost to growth and warned that he would be moving to a “crisis” economy when he takes his position in the UK later this year.

Mark Carney, the successor to Mervyn King said there were three classes of countries in the global economy; crisis economies, those emerging from crisis, and those growing strongly.

The comments follow calls from the International Monetary Fund earlier this week for George Osborne to reconsider the UK government’s austerity agenda. The IMF has slashed its forecasts for UK growth –more than any other major economy.

Commenting, SNP Treasury spokesperson Stewart Hosie MP said:

“Mark Carney’s comments are a hammer blow to the Chancellor.

“We know with every day that passes that George Osborne and Danny Alexander’s plans are completely backfiring. The UK’s stagnant performance also shows a fall in industrial output of 2.1% in the last quarter of last year.

“The Chancellor’s remaining credibility went with the loss of triple A credit rating, a timid and unimaginative budget and a failed economic policy that has produced nothing but austerity and misery for many.

“The Scottish Government is using the levers available to it to produce better outcomes – with lower unemployment including youth unemployment than the rest of the UK – and a focus on capital investment. The economic failure of the Westminster system shows why the economic levers should be in the hands of Scotland with independence – not George Osborne and Westminster.”

MP Comments on Employment and Unemployment Improvements

April 17, 2013 Uncategorized No comments

Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie commented today as new official figures showed that the unemployment rate in Dundee East at 5.7% is lower than in February and lower than this time last year. It also compares favourably with the Scottish average of 7.3% and the UK average of 7.9%.

The Scottish Government have also released new figures today which show that Scotland’s growing economy has helped to secure significant increases in employment and reduction in unemployment.

Employment in Scotland rose by 39,000 or 1% in the first quarter of 2013, the largest increase since 2000, taking the headline employment rate 71.7% which is higher than the UK rate of 71.4%.

Meanwhile unemployment fell by 11,000 or 0.5% in the first three months of the year to a rate of 7.3%, lower than the UK’s unemployment rate of 7.9%. UK unemployment rose by 70,000 to 2.56 million during this period.

Progress on tackling youth unemployment also continued, with the rate of youth unemployment now down 6.8% in the past year. Scotland’s youth unemployment rate of 16.1% compares to a higher UK rate of 20.6%, while Scotland’s youth employment rate of 56.7% is higher than the UK’s rate of 49.7%.

Figures also published today show that Scotland’s GDP increased by 0.5% in the quarter from October to December last year, which compares extremely favourably to the performance of the UK economy during the same period where GDP reduced by 0.3%.

Commenting on both sets of figures, Stewart Hosie said: “Obviously, these new figures show better news for Scotland and Dundee and that we are moving in the right direction.

“Unemployment is still the main issue which the Scottish and Westminster Governments deal with and it is a tragedy for every person who is unemployed.

“The UK Government is in control of the big levers of government including the tax system but the Scottish Government is doing everything it can within its powers to tackle unemployment and has prioritised the issue by appointing the only dedicated Minister for youth employment in the UK — and that action is starting to show results.

“Funding capital projects is the single most effective way in which we can get the economy moving again.

“The Scottish Government and Dundee City Council have brought forward infrastructure projects in Dundee and secured investment to keep the waterfront project moving forward with the V&A and the replacement Olympia, seven new schools and we are funding a record number of apprenticeship places in Dundee.

“We can always do more but I think that most people accept that we are doing the best we can with the powers we have to tackle unemployment and that we have made a difference, moving Dundee forward.”

 

Official Figures Confirm Economic Gloom

March 27, 2013 Stewart Hosie MP No comments

Figures out today from the Office for National Statistics confirm previous estimates that the UK economy shrunk at the end of 2012. Despite all the coalition’s attempts the figures show economic activity is still showing no signs of growth.

Commenting on the release of the figures, Stewart Hosie MP, SNP Treasury spokesman said:

“The confirmation that the UK economy contracted by 0.3% in the last three months of last year makes for grim reading, but doesn’t surprise any of us. We know with every day that passes that George Osborne and Danny Alexander’s plans are completely backfiring. The UK’s stagnant performance also shows a fall in industrial output of 2.1% in the last quarter of last year.

“If the first three months of this year show further contraction, then we will be in the territory of a triple-dip recesssion. The Chancellor’s remaining credibility has gone with the loss of triple A credit rating, a timid and unimaginative budget – that in true Osborne style is unravelling – and a failed economic policy that has produced nothing but austerity and misery.

“The Scottish Government is using the levers available to it to produce better outcomes – with lower unemployment including youth unemployment than the rest of the UK – and a focus on capital investment. The economic failure of the Westminster system shows why all the economic levers should be in the hands of Scotland with independence – not George Osborne and Westminster.”

GROUNDS FOR CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM AS SCOTLAND EXITS RECESSION

February 1, 2013 Stewart Hosie MP No comments

The return to growth in the Scottish economy has been welcomed as grounds for cautious optimism in Scotland’s performance.

Latest figures released today show that Scottish GDP grew by 0.6% in the period from July to September 2012, despite the effects of the ‘Olympics bounce’ which boosted the equivalent UK figures likely to have been far weaker in Scotland.

Analysis by RBS Economic Insight attributed the food and drink sector to around half of the improvement in GDP growth for the quarter. Recent statistics showed that the value of food and drink exports from Scotland to overseas had increased by 52% between 2007 and 2011, reaching £5.4 billion in value.

Analysis by Professor Brian Ashcroft also shows that updated methodology used in the Scottish figures to bring them in to line with UK growth measurements show that Scotland’s economy had not in fact suffered as severely during the recession as previously believed.

Commenting, SNP Treasury Spokesperson Stewart Hosie MP said:

“This return to growth in Scotland’s economy is extremely welcome and reflects improved performance in the production and service sectors.

“With food and drink production having played a particularly important role in achieving this economic growth, it is certainly a vindication of the importance that the Scottish Government has placed on growing this sector since first coming to office in 2007.

“It is worth remembering that these growth figures were achieved without the Olympics boost which was widely considered to have helped secure the UK’s economic growth figure for the same period, so they are a particularly welcome achievement for the economy.

“The fact that these growth figures have been built on solid improvements to Scotland’s economy are certainly grounds for cautious optimism for the months ahead.

“There can be no room for complacency as times remain extremely difficult for many people across Scotland, but the fact that Scotland’s economy is moving in the right direction is something that is extremely welcome.”

 

HOSIE CHALLENGES ANTI-INDEPENDENCE PARTIES TO COME CLEAN ON “STRONGER TOGETHER” CLAIMS

May 31, 2012 Stewart Hosie MP No comments

Speaking ahead of a conference on the Economics of Scottish Independence at the British Banker’s Association in London this evening (Thursday), SNP Treasury spokesperson Stewart Hosie MP, who will set out the positive economic case for independence, challenged the anti-independence parties to come clean on their “stronger together” claims.

 

Mr Hosie laid down the gauntlet with examples in key reserved policy areas – defence, pensions, energy and the oil industry – which illustrate how decisions being made at UK level were working against Scotland’s best interests.

 

Mr Hosie said:

 

“The SNP have been putting a positive case for independence and we will continue to promote our vision of a fairer, greener and more prosperous Scotland. But the anti-independence soundbite that we are somehow “stronger together” cannot go unchallenged.

 

“The debate needs to be based on facts, not fiction, and the facts show that Scotland is being undersold by the current set-up.

 

“On defence, how can we be stronger together when Scotland has only 4 of 148 major regular army units based in its territory? We have seen a disproportionate decline in Scotland’s defence footprint, with an underspend of over 5.6 bn and the loss of more than more than 11,000 jobs over the last decade. That’s not stronger together – that’s being sold short.

 

“On pensions, where is the strength in a union when the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander effectively threatens the Scottish Government with budget cuts if it doesn’t impose UK reforms on the Scottish public sector, restricting what it can do with its own workforce? That’s not stronger together – that’s being held over a barrel.

 

“On energy – how can it be in Scotland’s interests to charge for transmission based on distance from population centres, so a generator in Aberdeenshire is charged £21.49 per kw to connect to the grid, while a London-based generator receives a subsidy of £6.85? This policy is damaging rural Scotland’s vast renewables potential. That’s not stronger together, but being hung out to dry.

 

“And on the oil industry, the Treasury’s cash cow, what did Scotland gain from the decision to unilaterally hike up the supplementary charge from 20% to 32%, threatening a crucial industry for a quick buck? No independent Scottish Government would ever treat the industry in this way. That’s crass economic foolishness, not strength.

 

“These and countless other examples provide evidence that the best people to make decisions about Scotland are the people who live here. Scotland will be stronger when all policy decisions are made in the Scottish Parliament..

 

“After independence Scotland and the rest of the UK will all benefit from a new partnership of equals on these isles, based on strong social bonds and mutual respect.”

 

AUTUMN STATEMENT MUST DELIVER FOR SCOTTISH ECONOMY

November 27, 2011 Stewart Hosie MP No comments

Speaking ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on Tuesday, SNP
Westminster Treasury spokesperson Stewart Hosie MP called on the UK
Government to “stop dithering and start delivering” measures to boost
the economy and enhance consumer confidence.

Mr Hosie, a Member of the Treasury Select Committee, said:

“George Osborne must stop dithering and start delivering a plan MacB
to stimulate the economy by supporting capital investment, improving
access to finance and enhancing economic security.

“So far the Chancellor’s rhetoric has not been matched by the
arithmetic, and the autumn statement must bring a change of direction.

“The Treasury must follow the successful strategy of the Scottish
Government and set out a targeted, cost effective, programme of new
capital investment. Despite a 36 per cent real terms cut in its
capital budget, the Scottish Government are using every lever at its
disposal to invest more into capital in the coming years – with the
result that investment in infrastructure is rising by a quarter in
Scotland over the spending period.

“In particular, the construction sector is crucial and the Chancellor
should respond positively to the proposals by many in the sector to
reduce the rate of VAT on repair and maintenance work to houses from
20 per cent to 5 per cent. This would help improve our housing stock,
create jobs and potentially bring empty homes back into use.

“Action is also needed to help pension funds and other large
institutional investors to channel a proportion of their investment
into major infrastructure projects, while reducing the interest
charged on local authority public borrowing would let councils
maximise their part in supporting the economy.

“Securing affordable access to finance remains a serious challenge for
many businesses and Project Merlin must fully deliver its lending
commitments, particularly to small and medium sized firms. Encouraging
new entrants to the banking market would provide businesses with
alternative options when seeking finance and will help boost
competition in the sector.

“Scotland is home to a world class video game industry, including in
my own Dundee constituency, and there is a strong case to reverse the
last Labour Government’s decision to abandon proposals for tax relief
for the video games industry.

“This must be an autumn statement that delivers for individuals as
well as businesses because economic confidence has been weakened as
household budgets are being squeezed by rising fuel and food prices,
so it is imperative to mitigate these pressures.

“Again the Scottish Government has shown the way forward by acting to
continue freezing the council tax, abolish prescription and protect
concessionary travel. In contrast, there is growing concern at reports
that the UK Government is considering uprating benefit levels next
year by less than the rate of inflation. Increasing that would slash
the incomes of some of the most vulnerable in our society, and I have
urged the Chancellor not to cut benefits incomes next year.

“It is clear that Scotland needs the same financial and economic
powers as other nations have, so that we can grow our economy and
revenues as the only alternative to a decade or more of
Westminster-dictated cuts. We have used the powers we have wisely – we
now need the same powers as other countries have in order to sort this
mess out.”

HOSIE COMMENTS ON ‘FRAGILE’ UK GROWTH AND GDP

November 1, 2011 Stewart Hosie MP No comments

AUTUMN STATEMENT MUST INCLUDE PLAN B

Commenting on the latest UK growth and GDP figures, SNP Westminster Treasury spokesperson Stewart Hosie MP said the situation reinforced the urgent need for a change of direction at Westminster, with the delivery of a Plan B, or flexibility in UK economic policy, to boost growth.

Mr Hosie said:

“These fragile figures underline the real need for a change of direction at Westminster, with the delivery of an economic plan B, or flexibility in economic policy, to boost growth.

“George Osborne must now use his autumn statement to deliver action in the areas where Scottish Government policy is making a difference: increased capital expenditure, improved access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses,  and the introduction of measures to boost consumer confidence and economic security.

“While Scotland’s economy continues to grow, and the Scottish labour market continues to outperform the UK as a whole,  these figures reinforce the urgent need for the UK Government to deliver a ‘Plan B’ approach, to ensure Scotland’s recovery is not derailed by Westminster’s wrong-headed economic policy.
“Despite their crocodile tears over the economy – let’s not forget that if Labour had been re-elected their proposed cuts,  as Lord Mandelson himself warned, would have led to an age of austerity with spending cuts running right the way through to 2020.

“It all underlines why the Scottish Parliament needs full financial and economic powers, so that we can ensure that Scotland’s recovery is not blown off course by Westminster.”

Labour Should ‘Stop Playing the Blame Game’ say SNP

August 5, 2010 Joe FitzPatrick MSP No comments

Dundee West MSP Joe FitzPatrick today responded to comments by Labour Leader Ian Gray in today’s Courier by accusing Labour of being ‘in complete denial’ over their responsibility on the economy.

SNP MSP and member of the Scottish Parliament’s Finance Committee, Joe FitzPatrick today said: “I was disappointed to read Mr Gray’s call for the SNP Government to be ‘honest’ about forthcoming cuts in the public sector.

“Mr Gray accuses the Scottish Government of ‘mismanaging the economy even before the recession began’. In fact, he is prepared to blame everyone but Labour for the present situation.

“He hopes the public will forget that Labour were in power for the past thirteen years, with the recession beginning to bite during the last two.

“You simply cannot trust a word which Iain Gray says. Alistair Darling, who until only 11 weeks ago was the Chancellor, admitted that any public spending cuts by Labour would be “tougher and deeper” than those implemented by Margaret Thatcher.
 

“Andy Kerr, Mr Gray’s own Finance spokesman in the Scottish Parliament, called for the Scottish Government to implement the cuts more quickly.

“Iain Gray has avoided saying whether he agreed with the Chancellor that Labour’s cuts would be ‘tougher and deeper’ than Margaret Thatcher’s. Nor did he say whether Andy Kerr was right to call for even quicker cuts in Scotland.

 
“Labour now think they can mislead the public that they have no responsibility for any of the cuts!
 
”Iain Gray is playing fantasy politics and his entire strategy is to scaremonger and blame everyone but Labour. 

“Frankly, the public will not be fooled. It’s time for Iain Gray to stop playing the blame game so that we can move on and co-operate on finding a way forward for Scotland.”

Banks ‘Have Duty’ To support Scottish Recovery

August 3, 2010 Stewart Hosie MP No comments

SNP MP and Member of the Treasury Select Committee Stewart Hosie has said that, as they return to profit, the banks which benefitted from public subsidy have a duty to lend to Scottish business and ensure Scotland’s recovery continues.

Mr Hosie’s call comes as the ‘State of the Economy – August 2010’ analysis produced by the Scottish Government found that the recession in Scotland was shorter and sharper that it was in the rest of the UK but weak bank lending was still hitting SMEs hard.  

It is expected that several of the banks which benefited from public subsidies will announce return to profit this week.

Commenting, Mr Hosie said:

“Scotland went into recession a quarter later than the United Kingdom economy, and the rate of decline over the whole period was less north of the Border than it was across the UK.  The Scottish economy is turning a corner but weak bank lending is a real cause for concern.

“While banks are understandably cautious about lending money, this concern must be balanced with the need to support growth in the economy.

“As the banks which have benefited from taxpayers’ money announce their return to profit this week, more than ever they have a duty to make finance available to Scottish businesses.”

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