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Scotland’s Economy

I will make some progress, because I have another 26 pages to go.

The Scottish Government absolutely refuse to take responsibility for the catastrophic state of the Scottish economy and public finances. There is always some other factor, person or force majeure event to blame. I venture to say that the Scottish Government have an abundance of two things at the moment: brass necks and Teflon desks. There is no great mystery about who is responsible for the state of the Scottish economy: the SNP has been in power in Scotland for 17 years and, until July, the Conservatives had run this country for 14 years. The First Minister, the right hon. John Swinney, has been one of the central guiding minds and directing intellects behind those 17 years of incompetence; he was Finance Secretary for more than half of the SNP’s term in office and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills for five years.

Labour will take the steps needed to fix the Scottish economy. We are determined to bring outside investment into Scotland, which has been the focus of our international investment summit this week. We are developing a strong industrial strategy. Our new Employment Rights Bill will make work pay and protect the majority of Scotland’s business against competition from unscrupulous businesses that do not treat their employees fairly. An example of that is exploitative zero-hours contracts, which we will banish from Scotland.

GB Energy, headquartered in Aberdeen, one of Scotland’s amazing cities, will spearhead billions of pounds of investment in our energy system, including floating offshore wind, which is a brilliant opportunity for the north-east of Scotland, and hydrogen. We will work tirelessly to help our businesses export and to support our tourism sector. For the last 17 years, the Scottish Government have been selling Scotland to the Scots, but we know that Scotland is brilliant; we have to sell Scotland to the world, and that is what we will do. An early example of that is a deal with Brazil for the recognition of Scotch whisky worth up to £25 million.

I spent more than 27 years working as a lawyer with Scottish businesses before I came to this place, and I have never wavered in my belief that Scotland has the greatest economic potential. I have never wavered in my belief that Scotland’s economy can grow and deliver good jobs and the money needed to deliver the public services that Scotland deserves. That is Scottish Labour’s belief too. A growing economy gives people well-paid jobs and optimism about the future, and we are determined to deliver that. A growing economy delivers better public services, and Scotland’s public services must be improved. We are determined to rebuild our public services after years of neglect and mismanagement.

Next year is Glasgow’s 850th birthday. I am ferociously proud of Glasgow and of Scotland—including Aberdeen, where my mother came from and where I have spent so much time both on family matters and working. With investment and stable government, we can deliver the change that Scotland needs. We have got rid of one of the Governments failing Scotland; we need to get rid of the other. It is time for change in Scotland. It is time to deliver economic growth and better public services to Scotland.