Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been accused of “channelling” Margaret Thatcher with new financial reforms – with Scotland’s First Minister saying her “extraordinary” actions show the UK economy “does not work for Scotland”.
John Swinney hit out in the wake of Ms Reeves’s Mansion House speech which contained a package of reforms aimed at attracting more investment to the UK.
Ahead of Tuesday evening’s keynote address, there had been speculation among observers that the Labour Chancellor would “channel Margaret Thatcher” with a new era of deregulation.
Ms Reeves said she would be “rolling back regulation that has gone too far” with plans to cut red tape in the City and reform banking rules, including the ring-fencing regime.Addressing the financial sector, the Chancellor insisted the changes are needed for the UK to stay competitive in a more uncertain global economy.
She said she had “placed financial services at the heart of the Government’s growth mission, recognising that Britain cannot succeed and meet its growth ambitions without a financial services sector that is fighting fit and thriving”.
However Mr Swinney said: “The very idea that a Labour Chancellor thinks that channelling Margaret Thatcher is what our economy needs is extraordinary.
“It is the very last thing we need as we try to recover from Tory austerity.”
He added that people “right across Scotland” had “suffered terribly” during Conservative Mrs Thatcher’s time as prime minister from 1979 to 1990, and that “communities were decimated and countless livelihoods were thrown on the scrapheap”.
Going on to claim the country is “still dealing” with the impact of Thatcherism, Mr Swinney said: “The UK economy does not work for Scotland.
“Rather than come up with serious solutions to fix it, Labour are doubling down on the same agenda that has failed before.
“We do not need an effort to replicate Thatcher’s agenda – we need bold action and investment to tackle the effects of Thatcher that are still with us.
“Labour could relax their fiscal rules or make the choice to ask higher earners to pay a little more to unlock investment, just as we have done in Scotland.”
But the First Minister said the UK Government “clearly lack the political courage” to do this.
He added: “Scotland was promised change by Labour – instead we have been given the same tired economic policies, and efforts to balance the books on the backs of the most vulnerable.
“We have learned that you cannot trust a word Labour say before an election – and that if Scotland is to create an economy that works for everyone, the only way we can do so is as an independent country.”
A Labour spokesperson said: “This Labour Government has delivered the biggest financial settlement for Scotland since devolution began.
“But as NHS waiting lists fall in England with Labour, one in six Scots are waiting for treatment and cancer waiting times are at their worst ever level under the SNP in Scotland.
“John Swinney is out of excuses for his party’s failure over 18 years in office. Scotland can’t risk a third decade of SNP mismanagement of public services.
“Labour is investing £8.3 billion in funding for GB Energy-Nuclear and GB Energy in Aberdeen, up to £750 million for a new supercomputer at Edinburgh University, £160 million over 10 years for investment zones in the north east of Scotland and in Glasgow City Region, and are investing £452 million over four years for City and Growth Deals across Scotland.
“While Swinney throws juvenile jibes, Labour is getting on with the job of delivering for Scots.”
