Scottish Parliament debate: Pre-budget report (Scottish Government response)

Linda spoke in the debate on 16 December.

“We keep hearing the accusation that Scotland could not have afforded to bail out the banks on its own, but the straight truth is that the UK could not afford to do so, either. We should include Northern Rock among those banks—it is not just the Scotland-based banks that were bailed out. That massive increase in Government indebtedness will hang around the necks of future generations like a millstone—it is the fault of the UK Government and its regulatory failure…

“…I am sure that Parliament will agree that we need the same fiscal stimulus that the other G8 countries introduced. We are the only country that did not put in place such measures, and we are the only country that has yet to come out of recession. We must get together and keep making the argument to the Chancellor of the Exchequer—whoever he or she might be in a year or so—that the Scottish economy must be provided with the stimulus that it needs. After all, our hands are tied by the lack of the independent status that so many small nations across the world take for granted.”

Read the full text of Linda’s speech at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor1216-02.htm#Col22215