Martin McCluskey

It is a pleasure, Mr Dowd, to serve under your chairmanship and speak on behalf of the Government for the first time. I begin by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow East (John Grady) on securing this debate on Scotland’s economy and congratulating all hon. Members on their contributions. We have heard a lot about the positives and the potential of Scotland’s economy, such as the strength of Brand Scotland and our thriving biosciences sector; we have even heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Bathgate and Linlithgow (Kirsteen Sullivan) about our thriving film and TV sector. I am sure the crowds here today are just as great as that which turned out to welcome Colin Firth to Bathgate. However, we have also heard about the problems in the Scottish economy, and it is no secret that—along with the UK economy as a whole—it is underperforming. This has been identified by many Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Gregor Poynton) and the hon. Member for Mid Dunbartonshire (Susan Murray). Fourteen years of mismanagement by the previous Government has resulted in persistently low levels of investment, poor productivity growth and rising inequality. That has led to this Government facing the worst economic inheritance since the second world war—a £22 billion black hole in the public finances. The Treasury reserves were spent three times over in three months, which is absolutely astonishing, and financial commitments were made by the previous Government that they knew they could not keep. That inheritance means tough decisions for the Government, but it is better to be honest and up front with people about the choices that we face. That is why my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will set out in her budget how we will fix the foundations of our economy so that we can tackle poverty, rebuild our public services and begin a decade of national renewal. The economic inheritance we face is not just fiscal. It is also structural. My right hon. and learned Friend the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend the Chancellor have made clear that the No. 1 priority of this Government is growth. To achieve that, the foundations of Scotland’s industrial economy need to change significantly. That is why we published our industrial strategy Green Paper yesterday. We heard from my hon. Friend the Member for East Kilbride and Strathaven (Joani Reid) about the importance of industrial strategy, and how it is not just dry, but something that really makes an impact on people’s lives.