SNP: Coalition taking wrecking ball to recovery
“Scotland’s economy grew faster than the UK as a whole in the second quarter of 2010 – the highest growth for four years – but the Tories and LibDems threaten to throttle Scottish recovery with these huge cuts to capital expenditure.
“The latest GDP figures show the Scottish government were right to accelerate capital expenditure to fund building projects. Scotland’s economy grew by 1.3% in the second quarter – with a strong 10.4% rise in construction, driven by the Scottish government’s infrastructure investment.
“Recovery is literally being built in Scotland – but the Tories and Lib Dems are taking the wrecking ball to it.
“In their coalition agreement, the Tories and Lib Dems vowed to protect the NHS budget but the small print of the spending review tells a different story with a 17% cut to NHS capital budgets over the review period. This broken promise means a knock-on effect for Scotland through the Barnet formula – one reason why the capital budget hit in Scotland is bigger than expected.
“The events of recent days underline why the Scottish parliament must have the same financial and economic powers of other nations, so that we can grow our economy and revenues as the only alternative to a decade or more of Westminster-dictated cuts.”
