Nicola Sturgeon calls for Scottish ‘firepower’ as Rishi Sunak unveils jobs plan

Nicola Sturgeon has denied playing politics as she led calls for more “financial firepower” by increasing borrowing powers to help Scotland tackle the increasing cases of Covid-19.
Rishi Sunak has a big decision to make over state support for the economy as the Covid crisis continues. Picture: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA WireRishi Sunak has a big decision to make over state support for the economy as the Covid crisis continues. Picture: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Wire
Rishi Sunak has a big decision to make over state support for the economy as the Covid crisis continues. Picture: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Wire

The First Minister warned the Scottish Government must not be “hamstrung” by financial limitations imposed by the UK Government’s decision to halt the Job Retention Scheme.

In response, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives Douglas Ross criticised Ms Sturgeon for bringing up “long-standing constitutional grievances” as he called on his own party to provide more financial support to last “for some time to come”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He did so as the UK Government Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced he was set to make a statement to the House of Commons today setting out his new ‘Winter Economy Plan’ designed to “continue protecting 
jobs”. The comments came the day after Ms Sturgeon announced new restrictions banning visits to other households and a nationwide 10pm curfew for hospitality businesses and on the same day Scotland registered its highest ever positive Covid-19 case numbers.

However, the First Minister said it was “likely” that, had the furlough scheme been extended or more money was made available by the UK Government to help hospitality businesses, she would have come to a “different decision” – such as closure – rather than imposing a curfew on pubs.

Ms Sturgeon has written to the Prime Minister asking for “reasonable, but necessary fiscal flexibility” and to reiterate the call for an extension to the furlough scheme.

She warned the Scottish Government may be forced to take decisions against public health advice due to the impact those decisions would have on the economy, if the UK Government did not provide more funding.

Speaking at her daily coronavirus briefing yesterday, the First Minister said she had gone “as far as we could within the powers we have”.

She said: “If the Scottish Government had the power to borrow money or extend the furlough job retention scheme so we could mitigate the impact on jobs, it is very possible, perhaps even likely, that we would have reached a different decision yesterday on hospitality.

“If I had the ability to bring more financial firepower to mitigate the jobs and economic impact, I probably would have gone further on pubs.”

Ms Sturgeon denied playing politics.

She said her letter to Boris Johnson would cover similar territory to the one sent by Scottish finance secretary Kate Forbes earlier in the year that called for additional borrowing powers and increased investment in Scotland.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The First Minister said: “It is genuinely not intended to be political or constitutional and I know some people won’t believe that, but it is absolutely the case.

“It reflects a genuine worry I have as First Minister right now and that is that we mustn’t be hamstrung in essential public health decisions by the lack of necessary economic mitigations.

“There is an argument, and I’ve heard some experts articulate it even this morning, that all of us across the UK should actually be doing even more right now.

“There is a danger that what starts to hold us back is not the public health analysis, but financial limitations.”

Ms Sturgeon said she did not want to be “between a rock and a hard place” when making public health decisions.

She said: “Obviously no government’s resources are completely infinite, but the UK Government has the power to borrow that we don’t, so that’s what I was just trying to be frank about here.”

However, the Scottish Tories leader criticised the First Minister for bringing up “tired political points” around the finances of the Scottish Government.

Mr Ross called on his own party in the UK to bring forward “continued government support” for “some time to come” ahead of Mr Sunak’s economy plan announcement today.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said: “The UK Government has protected nearly a million Scottish jobs through the furlough scheme and other measures while delivering billions of pounds in Barnett consequentials over and above the biggest Scottish Budget ever.

“Like people all over the UK, Scottish workers have all relied on that support over the last six months.

“Given the new cases emerging and the restrictions imposed, it’s clear to me that there is a need for continued government support for some time to come.

“That’s the point I raised with the Prime Minister in Parliament on Tuesday and followed up with him in direct discussions on Wednesday afternoon.”

Mr Ross added: “It’s through this constructive approach that we’ll get results.

“We’re only going to build Scotland back stronger after this pandemic if we unite and work together to find the best way forward.

“The middle of the pandemic is the wrong time to raise long-standing constitutional grievances.

“When Covid cases are rising again, it’s never been more necessary for all of us to work as one, instead of making the usual, tired political points.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

During her coronavirus briefing, the First Minister clarified exactly what would be published as part of the replacement for the route-map out of lockdown.

The document – labelled a “strategic approach to escalation in high infection areas” during her speech announcing new Covid-19 restrictions to Holyrood on Monday – will provide people with a clear indication of the measures the Scottish Government might take following an outbreak.

The First Minister said the new document won’t answer every question, but was designed to offer explanations as to why certain measures will be taken in some areas, but not in others.

She said: “You’ll have heard me saying over the last few weeks why in some local outbreaks we’ve applied some measures which are different to other measures we’ve applied in other local outbreaks.”

Comments

 0 comments

Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.