Browse content similar to 05/12/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Time to say goodbye to viewers in Scotland. Welcome to the coverage | :00:05. | :00:09. | |
of the Autumn Statement in Scotland. We have a panel of experts standing | :00:09. | :00:19. | |
:00:19. | :00:35. | ||
The news is not good. The Chancellor made clear that he will | :00:35. | :00:39. | |
go on for longer than he had hoped, -- austerity will go on for longer | :00:39. | :00:44. | |
than he had hoped. It is taking time, but the British economy is | :00:44. | :00:49. | |
healing. We will be hearing from Scottish businesses making a living | :00:49. | :00:59. | |
:00:59. | :01:00. | ||
under tough economic circumstances. It has taken the money outer pocket, | :01:00. | :01:05. | |
to try to give the kids something for Christmas, we just can't do it | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
anymore. Westminster MPs are still going through the fine print of | :01:08. | :01:13. | |
this, the Autumn Statement. What about the politics and economics of | :01:13. | :01:18. | |
the Chancellor's handiwork? George Osborne has admitted he will miss | :01:18. | :01:26. | |
his own target and will have to extend the austerity measures till | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
2018, but said that we are on the right track. | :01:30. | :01:40. | |
:01:40. | :01:48. | ||
It law growth was the result of Government's fiscal policy, they | :01:48. | :01:54. | |
would say so, but they do not. They say the economy has performed less | :01:54. | :02:00. | |
strongly than expected. They forecast growth this year of mine | :02:00. | :02:08. | |
is 0.1%. -- -0.1 %. But they say the expected growth can be | :02:08. | :02:16. | |
accounted for by over-optimism for net trade. They previously assumed | :02:16. | :02:19. | |
that the eurozone would begin to recover in the second half of this | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
year, but instead it has continued to contract. But has had the | :02:23. | :02:29. | |
exports to these markets and the net trade numbers. In short, the | :02:29. | :02:32. | |
tougher economic conditions mean that while the deficit is forecast | :02:32. | :02:36. | |
to go on falling, instead of taking three years to get the debt falling, | :02:36. | :02:43. | |
it will take four. Confronted with this news, some say that we should | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
abandon the deficit plan and try to borrow more. They think by | :02:48. | :02:53. | |
borrowing more we can borrow less. That would risk higher interest | :02:53. | :02:58. | |
rates, more or debt interest payments and a complete loss of | :02:58. | :03:02. | |
Britain's fiscal credibility. We are not taking the road to ruin. | :03:02. | :03:05. | |
Scotland, or Wales and Northern Ireland will get their Barnett | :03:05. | :03:13. | |
formula share of additional capital spending put at their disposal. On | :03:13. | :03:19. | |
top of this �5 billion for infrastructure and support for | :03:19. | :03:28. | |
business, we can provide a... The pay restraint in businesses and | :03:28. | :03:33. | |
government. Average earnings have risen around 10% since 2007. Out of | :03:33. | :03:38. | |
work benefits have gone up by around 20%. That is not fair to | :03:38. | :03:43. | |
working people who pay the taxes that fund them. Those working in | :03:43. | :03:45. | |
the public services who have seen their basic pay frozen will now see | :03:45. | :03:51. | |
it rise by an average of 1%. A similar approach of a 1% rise | :03:51. | :03:55. | |
should apply to those in receipt of benefits. That is fair and it will | :03:55. | :04:00. | |
ensure that we have a welfare system Britain can afford. We will | :04:00. | :04:05. | |
support the vulnerable secure as benefits and disability benefits | :04:06. | :04:11. | |
will be increased in line with inflation. We are extending support | :04:11. | :04:15. | |
for mortgage interest for two more years. We will apply a similar | :04:15. | :04:18. | |
approach to the uprating of some tax thresholds as we have to | :04:18. | :04:26. | |
welfare. The higher rate threshold to will be increased by 1% in the | :04:26. | :04:33. | |
tax years of 2014-15 and 2015-16. The income at which people start | :04:33. | :04:43. | |
:04:43. | :04:43. | ||
paying the 40% rate will go up from four to �1,450, and then to 42,285 | :04:43. | :04:47. | |
pts. I want to be completely clear with people. This is an increase, | :04:47. | :04:52. | |
it is the first cash increase in the higher rate threshold and | :04:52. | :04:57. | |
Parliament, but it is not in line with inflation, so it is as �1 | :04:57. | :05:05. | |
billion of revenue by 2015-16. -- it raises �1 billion. We are joined | :05:05. | :05:12. | |
by the political commentator for the day, Bill Jamieson, and Douglas | :05:12. | :05:16. | |
Fraser. Thank you for joining me. What | :05:16. | :05:24. | |
really stood up for your? Just to pick out the bits that | :05:25. | :05:30. | |
matter most, the forecast growth has been downgraded. It is much | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
weaker than previously thought. Borrowing appears to be falling, | :05:34. | :05:37. | |
but that appears to be because they have included money they have not | :05:37. | :05:42. | |
yet got in. They have not even fixed a deal for selling the 4G | :05:42. | :05:51. | |
network spectrum for mobile. Aid years of austerity, which was well | :05:51. | :05:58. | |
past the next Westminster election. There are �5 billion of investment, | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
part of which is coming to Scotland. There is a squeeze on most working- | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
age benefits, you got some of the details the, and 1% of public- | :06:06. | :06:15. | |
sector pay. A big boost for business to try to get more | :06:15. | :06:22. | |
allowances for investment and Corporation Taxes coming down to | :06:22. | :06:28. | |
21% in 2014. The big thing is he will abandon the three pence | :06:28. | :06:32. | |
increase in fuel duty, which was expected in January, and had | :06:32. | :06:37. | |
already been postponed. If we look at what this means for Scotland, | :06:37. | :06:42. | |
Scots are affected by the fuel duty, and the benefits squeeze effect a | :06:42. | :06:50. | |
lot of Scots. In terms of what comes to Holyrood, the net effect | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
over three years as we will get �330 million more than previously | :06:54. | :07:01. | |
thought. Most of that is coming in as capital but they will have to | :07:01. | :07:11. | |
:07:11. | :07:17. | ||
You have been looking at the figures. You thought it Neddy was | :07:17. | :07:22. | |
not as bad as it might have been. Many people were thrown by the fact | :07:22. | :07:25. | |
that the forecast for the budget deficit for this financial year was | :07:25. | :07:32. | |
not nearly as bad as had been widely forecast. That is what | :07:32. | :07:37. | |
through the Shadow Chancellor when he was giving his replies. He was | :07:37. | :07:41. | |
quite thrown by the forecast. As Douglas said, I suspect that what | :07:41. | :07:45. | |
the Chancellor has done is to beat in the Revenue not yet received | :07:45. | :07:51. | |
from the sale of the Forgie licensing. What is the big picture | :07:51. | :07:59. | |
here? We are now in the fiscal consolidation. That is austerity. | :07:59. | :08:06. | |
And it has been going on for eight years. Is the British economy going | :08:06. | :08:11. | |
through a fundamental change? We are not going back to the old | :08:11. | :08:15. | |
business cycle where we bounce back after recession and get back into | :08:15. | :08:21. | |
growth of 3.5% quite quickly. We are not seen that. If that is the | :08:21. | :08:26. | |
case, the next big hurdle for George Osborne is whether the | :08:26. | :08:30. | |
rating agencies might take that view and decide early next year | :08:30. | :08:36. | |
that they're going to downgrade our triple-A rating. | :08:36. | :08:39. | |
The Scottish Government will be poring over these figures, too, | :08:39. | :08:44. | |
analysing what they might mean for Scotland. I am joined by our | :08:44. | :08:50. | |
political editor. Thank you for joining me. Douglas mentioned those | :08:50. | :08:54. | |
figures briefly, but you have been crunching through them as well. Can | :08:54. | :08:59. | |
you give us a bit more detail about what these so-called Barnett | :08:59. | :09:03. | |
consequences mean for Scott and? The initial capital spending for | :09:03. | :09:09. | |
Scott and his �394 million over the two year remaining period up to | :09:09. | :09:15. | |
2015. There is a basic increase in revenue a for Scotland of �90 | :09:15. | :09:20. | |
million. That is more than might decide by the French since the | :09:20. | :09:24. | |
Chancellor has announced generally. The top slicing of department | :09:24. | :09:29. | |
limits. Whitehall budgets, are generally one or 2% of the above | :09:29. | :09:34. | |
that level. But because the departments in Scotland compared | :09:34. | :09:37. | |
with the departments and England's, generally health and schools are | :09:37. | :09:41. | |
the big ones, they are being relatively protected in England, | :09:41. | :09:46. | |
therefore there is a relative benefit to Scotland. They have only | :09:46. | :09:52. | |
been cut not 0.4% over all. You're taking about 60 million and net out | :09:52. | :09:57. | |
of the revenue budget in Scotland over those two years. 394 extra in | :09:57. | :10:05. | |
capitals. It is worth 331 million more were John Swinney to spend. He | :10:05. | :10:09. | |
was answering questions here 30 minutes ago. He is welcoming that | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
expenditure, but this Government has pointed out that it comes off | :10:12. | :10:16. | |
the backs of very substantial cuts in capital expenditure, which they | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
have previously deplored. The Scotland officers pointed out that | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
extra money for Scotland, understandably. They're pointing | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
out those who were taken out of tax and benefit from the fuel duty | :10:28. | :10:34. | |
increase being cancelled. It might have been a shortage of space which | :10:34. | :10:41. | |
oblige them to leave out those who will face cuts in their benefits. | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
Scotland has been asking for money and we must be welcoming this now. | :10:44. | :10:49. | |
Scottish industry must be welcome next as well. | :10:49. | :10:53. | |
To be fair to John Swinney, he very positively welcomed it. He is | :10:53. | :10:57. | |
getting his shovel light even my! It's a budget dominated by bleak | :10:57. | :11:00. | |
economic figures. Let's find out more about what the UK government | :11:00. | :11:03. | |
are saying and how it reflects on Scotland. Our Westminster | :11:03. | :11:05. | |
correspondent has been speaking to the Secretary of State for Scotland, | :11:05. | :11:12. | |
Michael Moore. A bit of a difficult balancing act | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
for the Chancellor today. He had to admit that economic growth was | :11:15. | :11:19. | |
lower than he wanted and also that the debts were higher than he | :11:19. | :11:25. | |
wanted. But all politics is local, so what exactly does this autumn | :11:25. | :11:29. | |
statement mean for Scotland? The man who can tell us is the | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
Secretary of State for Scotland. Thank you for joining us. In | :11:33. | :11:38. | |
essence, it is a bit of a curate's egg, isn't it? Good in some parts, | :11:38. | :11:44. | |
but in others. Growth is down and debt is up. The austerity measures | :11:44. | :11:48. | |
will go on for longer. The medicine will have to be taken for longer. | :11:48. | :11:53. | |
What people see and they see it across Europe are some very tough | :11:53. | :11:57. | |
economic circumstances. There is a backdrop that shows us the | :11:57. | :12:00. | |
challenges facing us in the economy in Scotland and across the United | :12:00. | :12:05. | |
Kingdom. What we are seeking to do is have targeted measures which we | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
can afford as a country which will help Scotland the to get on the | :12:09. | :12:14. | |
road to recovery and particularly, through the extra capital that we | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
will be a liar and the Scot has Government to spend, they will be | :12:17. | :12:20. | |
able to focus on the road, transport or other capital projects | :12:20. | :12:28. | |
to get the economy moving. We are seeing the cancellation of fuel | :12:28. | :12:33. | |
duty. With the further increase in the starting point for paying tax, | :12:33. | :12:37. | |
low and middle income Scots across the country will see a much reduced | :12:37. | :12:42. | |
tax bill or no tax at all. We will talk about some of the | :12:42. | :12:46. | |
specifics in a moment. But it is worth pointing out that the | :12:46. | :12:50. | |
austerity programme is going to go on longer. We're going to be poorer | :12:50. | :12:54. | |
and harder up for longer than you Government had sold us. | :12:54. | :12:59. | |
The circumstances that we are aware thing us are much tougher than the | :12:59. | :13:03. | |
forecast a couple of years ago. The depth of the recession that we are | :13:03. | :13:06. | |
recovering from is also a deeper than we were told the couple of | :13:06. | :13:12. | |
years ago. When people look at Europe, I see that they see a very | :13:12. | :13:16. | |
tough set of circumstances. Those are some of our most important | :13:16. | :13:22. | |
exports. And we have to work with what we have. What we're doing here | :13:23. | :13:26. | |
is we have targeted measures to make sure that we have affordable | :13:26. | :13:30. | |
programmes that will help the Scottish economy, whether it is in | :13:30. | :13:35. | |
capital spending, cancellation of fuel duty increase water better tax | :13:35. | :13:38. | |
provisions for low to middle income earners. | :13:38. | :13:42. | |
You say you're making extra funding available to the Scottish | :13:42. | :13:46. | |
Government. You want that to go on capital projects. They have said in | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
the past that they want more money for capital projects. But there is | :13:50. | :13:53. | |
no guarantee that the money you give them they will spend in the | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
way that you might want. We make a distinction between | :13:56. | :14:01. | |
capital spending and resource spending. They will stick within | :14:01. | :14:04. | |
those broad parameters. However, what they have been asking for and | :14:04. | :14:07. | |
what we are delivering is a significant opportunity to invest | :14:07. | :14:11. | |
in capital projects. Whether those are transport projects are other | :14:11. | :14:15. | |
infrastructure projects, that has got to be good news for the country | :14:15. | :14:18. | |
and I hope they will come forward as good, productive suggestions | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
very quickly. The Chancellor said it was fiscally | :14:22. | :14:27. | |
neutral. What he gave with one hand, he was taking away with the other | :14:27. | :14:30. | |
point As far as Scotland is concerned, can you come up with the | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
figure to say that Scotland will be this a much better off because of | :14:34. | :14:37. | |
this autumn statement or this amount worse off? | :14:37. | :14:41. | |
We're aiming to get fairness across the whole of the United Kingdom. | :14:41. | :14:45. | |
We're asking people to tighten their belts further and for longer | :14:45. | :14:48. | |
and we are also targeting the very wealthy to ensure that they're | :14:48. | :14:52. | |
making a very big contribution to the deficit reduction plans. We | :14:52. | :14:57. | |
have to keep things on track and remain credible with the | :14:57. | :15:00. | |
international financial markets. We have to create the right economic | :15:00. | :15:03. | |
conditions which allow Scottish prisons is to thrive and employ | :15:03. | :15:06. | |
more people. The Chancellor has announced that | :15:06. | :15:10. | |
he is operating some of the tax rates and the allowances by 1%. He | :15:10. | :15:15. | |
is also doing the same with benefits. That is less than the | :15:15. | :15:19. | |
same -- the rate of inflation. For many people in and out of work, | :15:19. | :15:23. | |
that will be a reduction in their living standards, want it? | :15:23. | :15:27. | |
And we are seeing quite a tough message today. But we are clear | :15:27. | :15:30. | |
that we have a programme here that will get the country through these | :15:30. | :15:37. | |
very difficult times and get us properly on the road to recovery. | :15:37. | :15:40. | |
Those investment plans and support for those on their Loryn comes will | :15:40. | :15:43. | |
help people to get through these difficult times for and have a much | :15:43. | :15:46. | |
more sustainable position than we ever had done at the last | :15:46. | :15:50. | |
Government. The Autumn Statement is all about | :15:50. | :15:56. | |
forecast. But there is no guarantee that this time everything is in | :15:56. | :16:00. | |
place. The Chancellor may be coming to us in a few months' time and say | :16:00. | :16:04. | |
things are worse again. These forecasts are independently | :16:04. | :16:07. | |
provided and assessed. There will be plenty of commentators who will | :16:07. | :16:11. | |
be able to make a judgement on it, but we think there fair assessments. | :16:11. | :16:16. | |
We have to make sure that against this very difficult backdrop, we | :16:16. | :16:20. | |
take the right measures which are affordable for the country. With | :16:20. | :16:24. | |
this Autumn Statement, the Chancellor has got this right. | :16:24. | :16:27. | |
I'm now joined from our newsroom by Stephen Boyle from Royal Bank of | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
Scotland. He's been crunching the figures. Tell us first of all what | :16:30. | :16:40. | |
:16:40. | :16:42. | ||
the big picture is here? He was mentioning Europe. We are being | :16:42. | :16:46. | |
buffeted by trade wins from the Continent. That is why the British | :16:46. | :16:51. | |
economy is suffering so bad. The head winds from Europe are an | :16:51. | :16:55. | |
important factor. The problems of the eurozone has meant that demand | :16:55. | :17:00. | |
in the eurozone for Scottish and British exports is much weaker than | :17:00. | :17:03. | |
its might otherwise have been. The enduring problem that the UK | :17:03. | :17:08. | |
economy faces is the extent of indebtedness. As long as that is | :17:08. | :17:11. | |
there, it will take a long time for growth to return to the types of | :17:11. | :17:15. | |
rates that we have been used to in the past. | :17:15. | :17:22. | |
Bill was talking about a major shift in Britain's economy, where | :17:22. | :17:28. | |
we used to be able to bounce back quickly, we cannot any more of. | :17:28. | :17:31. | |
Nobody who is alive in the UK today has been been through a period of | :17:31. | :17:38. | |
weak gross like this. It is because of the extent of indebtedness. | :17:38. | :17:41. | |
We have that eight years of austerity measures. What does that | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
mean for a living standards for people across the UK and Scotland? | :17:46. | :17:50. | |
It means the Government is going to be taking more out of your pockets | :17:50. | :17:55. | |
than it will be putting in. In comes, certainly in respect of the | :17:55. | :17:59. | |
tax and spending condition, are going to be constrained. People's | :17:59. | :18:02. | |
living standards are not going to increase that the kind of rates | :18:02. | :18:08. | |
that we have seen in the past. We should expect the growth in living | :18:08. | :18:13. | |
standards to be extremely modest over the next few years. | :18:13. | :18:18. | |
The pines in people's pockets is getting less valuable. But what | :18:18. | :18:23. | |
does it mean for business? There is a corporation tax of 21% by 20th | :18:23. | :18:27. | |
April 14. Business will welcome that. In | :18:27. | :18:31. | |
England, there is the continuing restriction on the growth of | :18:31. | :18:36. | |
business rates. But as the Chancellor made clear, this | :18:36. | :18:40. | |
announcement today is fiscally neutral. Anything that has been | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
given is also being taken away in the life of this Parliament. In | :18:44. | :18:47. | |
balance, it should not have any over all effect. | :18:47. | :18:56. | |
Thank you. Businesses mostly welcome measures | :18:56. | :19:00. | |
announced in the state and. Our Business Correspondent has been -- | :19:00. | :19:04. | |
Visit One. They have been making roles here in | :19:04. | :19:14. | |
:19:14. | :19:16. | ||
Glasgow for 47 years. John Heaney has been here for 17 of those. | :19:16. | :19:20. | |
We're still the same company that has here seven years ago. You | :19:20. | :19:25. | |
struggle. You cannot buy the stuff that used to be able to live. The | :19:25. | :19:30. | |
price of everything has gone up, so it is taking the money out of power | :19:30. | :19:34. | |
pocket. We cannot give the kids what we want to give them at | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
Christmas. The company is under new management and things are turning | :19:38. | :19:42. | |
around. They have introduced new products. Now, as well as the | :19:42. | :19:46. | |
famous roles, the company makes a whole range of cakes and pastries. | :19:46. | :19:51. | |
But margins are always under pressure. Why on of the major | :19:51. | :19:55. | |
issues facing the company is the increase in flower. That is our | :19:55. | :20:00. | |
biggest raw-material. Over the past year, due to the economic climate | :20:00. | :20:04. | |
and third rights that we have had throughout Europe, it has increased | :20:04. | :20:09. | |
dramatically. We have already seen two price increases last year. | :20:09. | :20:14. | |
Fortunately for us, we have actually fixed our price of flour | :20:14. | :20:18. | |
for another year. We will not see any more price increases for the | :20:18. | :20:21. | |
next year and that. That is the biggest impact it has had on us | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
this year. Scrapping the planned rise in fuel | :20:25. | :20:30. | |
duty will help. The company has invested in a new fleet of vans to | :20:30. | :20:34. | |
deliver to its customers to write the whole of the Western for -- | :20:34. | :20:39. | |
West of Scotland. They're great for the business. It has reduced the | :20:39. | :20:44. | |
cost on the distribution side and it will give us an opportunity to | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
invest in other areas. The Government has a major parts to | :20:47. | :20:52. | |
play to stop the rises and help us through this difficult period. | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
Morten's are hoping its customers are not feeling the squeeze. | :20:56. | :21:00. | |
Although austerity is here to stay, business has welcomed the release | :21:00. | :21:04. | |
of money for capital investment. Although not as much as the | :21:04. | :21:08. | |
Scottish Government was calling for, major construction projects in | :21:08. | :21:13. | |
Scotland could now get the go-ahead. Sweet news for businesses. The loss | :21:14. | :21:19. | |
of benefit from a cut in corporation tax -- tax, also new | :21:19. | :21:22. | |
incentives to invest in plant machinery and the extra funding to | :21:22. | :21:26. | |
try to boost exports, who knows, Norton's rolls and cakes could soon | :21:26. | :21:36. | |
:21:36. | :21:39. | ||
be available in other parts of the We have opposition party leading | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
figures here. Two of them are friends from the coalition party at | :21:43. | :21:47. | |
Westminster. But we have divided them today. Thank you for joining | :21:47. | :21:56. | |
us. Debt target is off, growth cut -- target is off. You have to look | :21:56. | :22:00. | |
at everything. Unemployment will be far lower than projected, far lower | :22:00. | :22:05. | |
than any other countries in the world. We are still being less in | :22:05. | :22:08. | |
terms of borrowing than we ever have before. Much less than just | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
about any other country in the world. We have more people in | :22:12. | :22:19. | |
employment. Lots of positive news out there. I think the approach | :22:19. | :22:24. | |
taken by the Chancellor is right, he has to stick to it. Sticking to | :22:24. | :22:29. | |
it. He says he has to stick to it. He did not say there is no | :22:29. | :22:34. | |
alternative, but he said he had to stick to the targets. That was the | :22:34. | :22:39. | |
most worrying message. When George Osborne came in, Labour warned that | :22:39. | :22:43. | |
if he continued with the austerity approach when we would be heading | :22:43. | :22:47. | |
for a double-dip recession. From the forecast today, it could be a | :22:47. | :22:53. | |
triple trough by the sound of it. This is not how to get the economy | :22:53. | :22:58. | |
going. He has missed his bowling targets. The whole point was to | :22:58. | :23:02. | |
reduce borrowing, but he has borrowed more. We have more than 2 | :23:02. | :23:10. | |
million unemployed. But he did say that the deficit is being reduced | :23:10. | :23:15. | |
every year, and he will continue with that on -- as an objective. | :23:15. | :23:19. | |
sets different targets, but the one he said himself is to reduce | :23:19. | :23:25. | |
borrowing. The only thing he has got out of this is the sale of the | :23:25. | :23:28. | |
4G network spectrum. If it had not been for that, the figures would | :23:28. | :23:32. | |
have been even worse. It is time for a change of direction from a | :23:32. | :23:40. | |
government. -- from the Government. I do not think there were any | :23:40. | :23:45. | |
surprises in the sense that there was going to be bad news in the | :23:45. | :23:50. | |
Budget statement, but as Davan pointed out, there are other trains | :23:50. | :23:55. | |
moving in the right direction, and amidst all the pleas for a change | :23:55. | :23:58. | |
of direction, what we have not had it is an alternative package that | :23:59. | :24:04. | |
would get us out of the problem that they left us in. We saw Danny | :24:04. | :24:07. | |
Alexander smiling gently in the Commons when that announcement was | :24:07. | :24:10. | |
made about increasing the personal allowance, getting close to the | :24:10. | :24:15. | |
10,000 level, to take people out of tax. He was not smiling so much | :24:15. | :24:22. | |
when the constraints on benefits were announced. Yes, in terms of | :24:22. | :24:26. | |
the commitment to take those on the lowest incomes out of tax, that was | :24:26. | :24:30. | |
very much a Liberal Democrat priority going into the coalition | :24:30. | :24:34. | |
negotiations, and we are now at the point of removing another 21,000 | :24:34. | :24:38. | |
people in Scotland out of paying tax all together. You did not enter | :24:38. | :24:41. | |
politics to strip people of benefits. What we have all agreed | :24:41. | :24:49. | |
in terms of the welfare package, something had to be done, we could | :24:49. | :24:55. | |
not continue on the same trajectory, and so we have committed to a 1% | :24:55. | :24:58. | |
increase thereafter. It would be interesting to see if Labour would | :24:58. | :25:08. | |
:25:08. | :25:08. | ||
do this. What do you make of these points? I think the Chancellor has | :25:08. | :25:11. | |
revealed he has the wrong priorities. He is punishing people | :25:11. | :25:15. | |
for being unemployed, which is fundamentally unfair, he is also | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
punishing working families and creating a new class of working | :25:19. | :25:26. | |
poor. EZ is is unfair to watch someone going out of the door to | :25:26. | :25:33. | |
work, when he is lying on -- he is saying it is unfair to watch | :25:33. | :25:36. | |
someone going out of the door to work when you are earning the same | :25:36. | :25:40. | |
for doing nothing. He said the private sector would make up for | :25:40. | :25:45. | |
the public sector losses, but they have not. His priorities are the | :25:45. | :25:50. | |
wealthy, while the working poor suffer if. The Labour Party want to | :25:50. | :25:56. | |
spend more money, but if you want to do that you have to increase tax. | :25:56. | :26:04. | |
On the point about welfare reductions, excluded from that are | :26:04. | :26:07. | |
carers and the disability allowance. There are exceptions. But you have | :26:07. | :26:15. | |
to look at last year's big position where there was a 5% increase. -- | :26:15. | :26:25. | |
:26:25. | :26:29. | ||
And the scrapping of the planned dual duty increase. -- fuel duty. | :26:29. | :26:36. | |
Yes, he felt that simply delaying this was not the right thing to do. | :26:36. | :26:43. | |
It was beautiful stop it may have been in the House, -- it was | :26:43. | :26:49. | |
theatre. The price of petrol has gone up so much, his revenue from | :26:49. | :26:55. | |
taxing it has gone up so she did not need the increase. John Swinney | :26:55. | :27:05. | |
:27:05. | :27:10. | ||
will be a -- here in a moment, pointing out the North Sea oil. | :27:10. | :27:16. | |
Labour said do not introduce the three pence rise. Let us talk about | :27:16. | :27:24. | |
the Scottish budget. Up 331 million, but John Swinney was saying that it | :27:24. | :27:29. | |
comes against a background of very big cuts in capital expenditure. | :27:29. | :27:35. | |
Look at it over the spending review period. You are now at well over �1 | :27:35. | :27:40. | |
billion in terms of Barnett formula consequential, but the announcement | :27:40. | :27:44. | |
of �394 million of capital spend can be applied to projects. The | :27:44. | :27:48. | |
challenge for the Scottish government is to prove that these | :27:48. | :27:56. | |
projects are actually shovel ready, and we can go ahead. The capital | :27:56. | :27:59. | |
will be welcome and it is needed in the economy to get people working | :27:59. | :28:04. | |
again, for example in the housing area, which the Scottish Government | :28:04. | :28:07. | |
have cut. But it is worrying that the Scottish Government have cut | :28:07. | :28:13. | |
back their investment programme, which has slipped by more than 330 | :28:13. | :28:17. | |
million. So this money is actually only just filling all that they | :28:17. | :28:27. | |
:28:27. | :28:28. | ||
created. That is right. There are some questions over whether these | :28:28. | :28:32. | |
projects were shovel ready. What we have seen in terms of the UK | :28:32. | :28:35. | |
announcement today about the �390 million in extra capital spending | :28:35. | :28:40. | |
is that the SNP's bluff has been called, it is up to them to get on | :28:40. | :28:45. | |
with projects. Thank you. We will be hearing from John | :28:45. | :28:52. | |
Swinney later. You're watching a special Politics | :28:52. | :28:55. | |
Scotland with the analysis of the Chancellor's Autumn Statement, and | :28:55. | :29:00. | |
what it means for us. This is a recap of what George Osborne said a | :29:00. | :29:09. | |
couple of hours ago. Austerity measures are extended until 2018. | :29:09. | :29:15. | |
Eight years of austerity. The growth forecast for 2012 has been | :29:15. | :29:19. | |
downgraded to -0.1 %. He missed his target for rigorous in -- reducing | :29:19. | :29:25. | |
national debt, but there will be 5 billion extra in capital spend. | :29:25. | :29:32. | |
We also have a cut in corporation tax to 21%. That comes in in April, | :29:32. | :29:40. | |
2014. The income tax threshold will be raised. And good news for her | :29:40. | :29:44. | |
prep -- hard pressed motorists, the three pence fuel duty rise has been | :29:44. | :29:48. | |
can sold. Joining me in the studio is Bill | :29:48. | :29:53. | |
Jamieson and Douglas Fraser. First of all, Douglas, looking at the | :29:53. | :29:56. | |
politics of this, the Chancellor says he was on the right track and | :29:56. | :30:01. | |
did not want to go down the road to ruin. He thinks the Labour Party | :30:01. | :30:07. | |
would do this. Yes, the track has to stop at some point for an | :30:07. | :30:11. | |
election, which is the crucial point of this. The crucial plan he | :30:11. | :30:19. | |
had at the start of this was that we have a narrative arc ending in | :30:19. | :30:26. | |
5th -- 2015, at which point a grateful electorate would vote for | :30:26. | :30:35. | |
them. Now we're progressing three years beyond that, and they may not | :30:35. | :30:38. | |
feel as grateful as George Osborne hope they would feel. So it will be | :30:38. | :30:43. | |
a tough election in 2015. It is worth also stressing that the | :30:43. | :30:47. | |
austerity is moving at a different pace, depending on what you look at. | :30:47. | :30:51. | |
The tax rises as part of what he is doing, most of them have been | :30:51. | :30:58. | |
implemented. The capital cuts go long way down the road. They have | :30:58. | :31:03. | |
been quite severe in the L -- early stages of the austerity programme, | :31:03. | :31:09. | |
but the cuts to services and service provision, we are nowhere | :31:09. | :31:13. | |
close to they have we point on that. There is a great deal more of that | :31:13. | :31:23. | |
:31:23. | :31:23. | ||
do come, and that is going to be painful. North and south of the | :31:23. | :31:26. | |
border, there are stories coming through about the health service, | :31:26. | :31:30. | |
which has been detected, but service provision and the level of | :31:30. | :31:37. | |
care is really getting squeezed. Bill Jamieson, he is pointing out | :31:37. | :31:41. | |
how politicised the budget is, but he may not even the Chancellor than | :31:41. | :31:46. | |
2018. The Budget was a huge shambles, and they spent a long | :31:46. | :31:51. | |
time trying to clear up from that. There has been a new Treasury team. | :31:51. | :31:55. | |
Howard successful is this Autumn Statement in terms of reaching out | :31:55. | :31:59. | |
to people and telling them the Chancellor is the right man to do | :31:59. | :32:06. | |
the job? There were very few leaks this time in terms of what we saw | :32:06. | :32:11. | |
in March, so I think the Treasury has been very busy. A lot of effort | :32:11. | :32:16. | |
went into the driving home the political points on clamping down | :32:16. | :32:25. | |
on tax evasion, he made some very good points on that, to his credit. | :32:25. | :32:32. | |
The Slater fund was up that there is much made -- the sleight of hand | :32:32. | :32:42. | |
:32:42. | :32:43. | ||
was that there was much made about the deficit, and that is where he | :32:43. | :32:49. | |
is able to reduce the magic numbers on the deficit. In terms of, is he | :32:49. | :32:59. | |
:32:59. | :33:04. | ||
on track? The mantra is wearing thin. If you look at the situation, | :33:04. | :33:08. | |
there is only one track to go down, and I do not think there would be | :33:08. | :33:10. | |
much difference between the three parties. | :33:10. | :33:14. | |
One of the most worrying aspects of the downturn has been the bleak | :33:14. | :33:17. | |
prospects for young people. Youth unemployment stands at 24% in | :33:17. | :33:23. | |
Scotland. A summit to tackle back has been taking place in Edinburgh, | :33:23. | :33:33. | |
Later today we will find out from the Chancellor the state of the | :33:33. | :33:36. | |
economy from his perspective as he gives the Autumn Statement. But the | :33:36. | :33:40. | |
state of the economy and the personal impact the recession has | :33:40. | :33:50. | |
:33:50. | :33:52. | ||
had on lots of people is felt here. Here are some people taking part in | :33:52. | :33:56. | |
the youth employment summit. Are you looking at -- for work that the | :33:56. | :34:02. | |
more mint? Not just now. I am doing work experience, which I have been | :34:02. | :34:10. | |
doing for four beaks. How long have you been looking for work? -- about | :34:10. | :34:20. | |
:34:20. | :34:21. | ||
one year. Was it easy to find the opportunity? It was easy to find it. | :34:21. | :34:25. | |
Is this your experience the as well? Yes, I have applied for loads | :34:25. | :34:30. | |
of jobs, had some interviews, but nothing yet. What do you think is | :34:30. | :34:34. | |
stopping you get the more permanent opportunity? I think it is lack of | :34:35. | :34:43. | |
experience. That is why am at the JobCentre doing work experience. I | :34:43. | :34:53. | |
:34:53. | :34:58. | ||
want to do admin and office work. Other employers are looking for | :34:58. | :35:02. | |
people with experience and I get to know how to use the computers and | :35:02. | :35:10. | |
the abdomen and the filing work. there a job at the end of the? -- | :35:10. | :35:20. | |
the admin. Hopefully. You're the chairperson of the youth employment | :35:20. | :35:25. | |
organisation. You know there is a big problem with youth unemployment. | :35:25. | :35:31. | |
What can days like today do to help this? It helps bring together young | :35:31. | :35:36. | |
people, and the Scottish government, and it allows young people to | :35:36. | :35:40. | |
explain to the ministers, to explain to Parliament, to explain | :35:40. | :35:44. | |
to Civil Service, exactly what the problems are, and where they are | :35:44. | :35:47. | |
finding trouble, so ministers can get first-line experience of what | :35:47. | :35:53. | |
is going on so they can take that to employers and places like the | :35:53. | :35:57. | |
JobCentre, and that can make it easier for young people. What kind | :35:57. | :36:04. | |
of information will ministers get today? Problems like accessibility, | :36:04. | :36:08. | |
and information. Those are two problems. Also the general creation | :36:08. | :36:13. | |
of jobs. We have been delighted at the Scottish river -- Youth | :36:13. | :36:16. | |
Parliament to the Government's commitment to lowering youth | :36:16. | :36:24. | |
unemployment. Today is a first step in that. We have been working with | :36:24. | :36:28. | |
cabinet ministers here today, and employers. That shows the strength | :36:28. | :36:31. | |
of feeling there is that young people have to be involved in the | :36:31. | :36:38. | |
The Chancellor's bleak economic figures provided rich pickings for | :36:38. | :36:41. | |
the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls. He was able to launch a stinging | :36:41. | :36:43. | |
critique on the Chancellor's credibility, which left George | :36:43. | :36:46. | |
Osborne and those on the government benches shaking their heads and | :36:46. | :36:55. | |
jeering. Here's a taste of what happened. | :36:55. | :37:00. | |
Bar a holiday this year is contracting. The Chancellor has | :37:00. | :37:04. | |
confirmed that Government borrowing is revised up this year, next year | :37:04. | :37:09. | |
and every year. The national deficit is rising and is not | :37:09. | :37:19. | |
:37:19. | :37:20. | ||
falling. I will say it again. Our economy is contracting this year. | :37:20. | :37:23. | |
Government borrowing and the deficit is revised up this year, | :37:23. | :37:29. | |
next year and every year and the national debt is rising. It is not | :37:29. | :37:35. | |
falling. It is people already struggling to make ends meet, | :37:35. | :37:39. | |
middle and lower income families and pensioners, who are paying the | :37:39. | :37:45. | |
price, while millionaires get a tax cut, a �3 billion welfare handout | :37:45. | :37:52. | |
to the people who need at least, Mr Speaker. Let me spell out the full | :37:52. | :38:02. | |
:38:02. | :38:03. | ||
facts for the house. They should listen, they might learn something. | :38:03. | :38:08. | |
In June 2010, the Office of Budget Responsibility for cast our economy | :38:08. | :38:14. | |
would grow by 2.8%. In March of this year, they said there would | :38:14. | :38:20. | |
still be gross, but they revised it down to just 0.8%. Today, we | :38:20. | :38:24. | |
learned that the Chancellor has not even manage that. Growth has not | :38:24. | :38:29. | |
only been downgraded yet again, but he has confirmed following a double | :38:29. | :38:33. | |
dip recession that our economy is now forecast to actually contract | :38:33. | :38:39. | |
inside this year by 0.1%. Let me remind the house what the | :38:39. | :38:44. | |
Chancellor promised over two years ago in the June budget. He said, we | :38:44. | :38:48. | |
have provided the foundations for economic recovery in all parts of | :38:48. | :38:54. | |
our nation. He said, we have set the course for a balanced budget | :38:54. | :39:03. | |
and falling national debt by the end of this Parliament. | :39:03. | :39:07. | |
I at one point, Ed Balls was wandering about dodgy dealings. He | :39:07. | :39:11. | |
was rather suspicious of the Chancellor's figures, wasn't he? | :39:11. | :39:16. | |
He was. I don't think all the calculations have been put out into | :39:16. | :39:20. | |
the public domain as yet. I suspect that you may have been referring to | :39:20. | :39:26. | |
the way in which George Osborne looks to have included the proceeds | :39:26. | :39:32. | |
of the seal of the Ford G licences, which are not due until March. He | :39:32. | :39:36. | |
is not certain he will get this money, but he has added �3.5 | :39:36. | :39:42. | |
billion into the figures. So, the deficit did not look as bad as most | :39:42. | :39:46. | |
people were expecting. Let's get some more reaction from | :39:46. | :39:54. | |
Westminster. MPs have had two cars to in really | :39:54. | :39:57. | |
digest the Autumn Statement and I am sure they know what words for | :39:57. | :40:05. | |
word. Let's test them on it. Margaret, let me start with you. | :40:05. | :40:11. | |
Presumably, you will tell me you do not like this. Why? | :40:11. | :40:14. | |
Because we have seen George Osborne come to the chamber this afternoon | :40:14. | :40:19. | |
and essentially admits his policies are feeling. He told us some time | :40:19. | :40:23. | |
ago that we would have growth this year in the British economy. We now | :40:23. | :40:29. | |
see that it is actually a -0.1 %. We have a shrinking economy. People | :40:29. | :40:32. | |
want to get their families prospering and get back to work and | :40:33. | :40:36. | |
get this economy moving. The Chancellor can play all sorts of | :40:36. | :40:42. | |
games, but he has failed. You're not happy with what the | :40:42. | :40:46. | |
Chancellor is doing. What would your party be doing differently? | :40:46. | :40:50. | |
We would have a plan for jobs and growth, which are essential | :40:50. | :40:54. | |
difference with this Government. You need to encourage demand, | :40:54. | :40:59. | |
confidence, get people spending. Don't spend money on unemployment | :40:59. | :41:03. | |
benefit. Let people spend their own money on tax receipts and that is | :41:03. | :41:08. | |
how you get the economy moving its. Gross is lower than it is in Europe, | :41:08. | :41:12. | |
even with the eurozone crisis. The British Chancellor is doing | :41:12. | :41:17. | |
something fundamentally wrong. The UK Government has announced | :41:17. | :41:22. | |
that Scotland will get an extra �331 million to spend. They say | :41:22. | :41:26. | |
they want to spend on capital projects. You Government says it | :41:26. | :41:30. | |
wants more money for capital projects. Does that mean that we | :41:30. | :41:33. | |
can see these shovels doing some work in Scotland and people getting | :41:33. | :41:36. | |
back into work? The Scottish Government has long | :41:37. | :41:41. | |
been pressing for investment in growth, for more money for these | :41:41. | :41:47. | |
projects. There is a long list of projects. Obviously, this money is | :41:47. | :41:52. | |
welcome. It is nowhere near enough. We need to get growth going. We | :41:52. | :41:57. | |
need to get people back into work. The Chancellor has shown us that | :41:57. | :42:00. | |
that we are facing more and more years of austerity and unless we | :42:00. | :42:06. | |
get coast going, things will not get any better. Although the money | :42:06. | :42:11. | |
for capital projects has welcome, he has only uprated benefits by 1% | :42:11. | :42:15. | |
for the next three years. That will pile misery upon misery for people | :42:15. | :42:19. | |
who are already suffering very badly in huge areas of Scotland. | :42:19. | :42:23. | |
But you will never get everything you want. Surely, you Government, | :42:23. | :42:27. | |
who has been calling for this extra money, should now be in a position | :42:27. | :42:32. | |
to say here is a list of what we can do and we are going out to go | :42:32. | :42:35. | |
and do it. As I said, the Government has been | :42:35. | :42:39. | |
calling for that for some time and this should have been done a long | :42:39. | :42:42. | |
time ago. There is a list of projects and the Government will be | :42:42. | :42:45. | |
looking at it and looking at the amount of money they have to see | :42:45. | :42:51. | |
which of these projects they can get going night to get people back | :42:51. | :42:55. | |
into work and to get real growth in the economy. | :42:55. | :43:03. | |
Margaret, high political aid budget is this? How difficult will it | :43:03. | :43:07. | |
speak for your party to reduce benefits for people who are | :43:07. | :43:10. | |
unemployed or at work? That probably go down quite well with | :43:10. | :43:13. | |
the majority of the electorate, doesn't it? | :43:13. | :43:16. | |
George Osborne thinks too much of his political party's position and | :43:16. | :43:21. | |
not enough of the interest of the people. Unemployment is now higher | :43:21. | :43:26. | |
in Scotland than it is in the rest of the UK. We are squeezed between | :43:26. | :43:31. | |
two governments to have got their priorities wrong. The SNP should be | :43:31. | :43:35. | |
setting up to do more and make sure these capital projects are spent in | :43:35. | :43:42. | |
a way that brings jobs to Scotland and not jobs overseas. | :43:42. | :43:45. | |
This is a very political Budget, isn't it? | :43:45. | :43:50. | |
Yes. Margaret is quite wrong and what she's saying. The Scottish | :43:50. | :43:54. | |
Government has brought a lot of jobs to Scotland, up but there | :43:54. | :43:56. | |
governed by the European procurement rules, which a | :43:56. | :44:00. | |
Government is in place. They are curating jobs and they will | :44:00. | :44:04. | |
continue to create jobs. They will do everything they can and market | :44:04. | :44:08. | |
stocks about this, but she is the one he wants to keep control of | :44:08. | :44:13. | |
Scotland. We will have that argument on | :44:13. | :44:17. | |
another day! Thank you. Joining me now from the Garden | :44:17. | :44:20. | |
Lobby is the Finance Secretary John Swinney, who has been analysing the | :44:20. | :44:24. | |
figures from the Treasury. I want to get you reaction first to the | :44:24. | :44:34. | |
:44:34. | :44:35. | ||
big picture, the key economic indicators the Chancellor outlined. | :44:35. | :44:39. | |
The Chancellor was talking about the eurozone crisis. | :44:39. | :44:44. | |
A yes, there are clearly problems in the eurozone and that is why | :44:44. | :44:47. | |
actions taken in a domestic economy here to try and improve economic | :44:47. | :44:51. | |
performance is important. What the Chancellor announced today in terms | :44:51. | :44:55. | |
of their revised growth forecast, which is severely down, an | :44:55. | :44:59. | |
increased level of borrowing, an extension of the period of | :44:59. | :45:03. | |
austerity to 2018. These are all indications that the United Kingdom | :45:03. | :45:06. | |
Government's economic policy has field and it has failed | :45:06. | :45:10. | |
dramatically. That is why he has had to accept some of the advice | :45:10. | :45:14. | |
that we have been giving him for some time that it is essential to | :45:15. | :45:17. | |
invest in capital investment and that is what we have been pressing | :45:17. | :45:20. | |
him to do for some time. The Chancellor said that the | :45:20. | :45:23. | |
economy in Britain was performing better than our neighbours in | :45:23. | :45:27. | |
France and Germany. He was pointing out that there was good news for | :45:27. | :45:31. | |
employment prospects in England. But the unemployment rate here in | :45:31. | :45:36. | |
Scotland is actually worse. The on employment position in England has | :45:36. | :45:42. | |
been substantially enhanced by the one-off benefit of the Olympics | :45:42. | :45:45. | |
that we have to look at the headline economic data that has | :45:45. | :45:50. | |
come into this Autumn Statement. We have got the information on | :45:50. | :45:53. | |
revised growth forecasts which are down. We have increased borrowing | :45:53. | :45:57. | |
levels and higher levels of borrowing than anticipated. We have | :45:57. | :46:02. | |
the extension of the austerity period to 2018. These are three | :46:02. | :46:05. | |
indications that the Chancellor's economic policies have failed and | :46:05. | :46:10. | |
he has that to take a different course. | :46:10. | :46:16. | |
Talking about capital investment, you have just been granted an extra | :46:16. | :46:23. | |
�331 million from them. Where will that go? The Clyde good way? -- | :46:23. | :46:28. | |
Gate way? Will you put your money for your mouth is? | :46:28. | :46:31. | |
The Scottish Government has been taking action for the last four | :46:31. | :46:35. | |
years to strengthen our capital investment. I have taken decisions | :46:35. | :46:40. | |
to shift resource expenditure into capital projects. We have did a | :46:40. | :46:43. | |
number of projects on to the non- profit distributing model, which | :46:43. | :46:47. | |
means they can take their course, despite the 33% reduction in | :46:47. | :46:50. | |
capital budgets that we face and the UK Government. What we're going | :46:50. | :46:53. | |
to do now with the resources that have been allocated today as a | :46:53. | :46:57. | |
consequence of our pressure is to deploy those projects as swiftly as | :46:57. | :47:01. | |
we possibly can to start getting the building projects under way, | :47:01. | :47:04. | |
creating employment and encouraging the economic recovery of Scotland. | :47:04. | :47:09. | |
My only regret is that we have had to wait so long for this to happen. | :47:09. | :47:14. | |
If the Chancellor had accepted our advice in 2010, we would not have | :47:14. | :47:17. | |
faced a double dip recession and we could have invested in the | :47:17. | :47:19. | |
construction industry in Scotland and in the economic infrastructure | :47:19. | :47:23. | |
of our country. The Chancellor has to be taken the | :47:23. | :47:30. | |
wind out of Alex Salmond's seals. He was after corporation tax of 20%, | :47:30. | :47:36. | |
but the UK rate will be 21% by April 2014. What you make of that? | :47:36. | :47:41. | |
Disaster has taken a welcome step in relation a corporation tax. -- | :47:41. | :47:47. | |
of the Chancellor. Then the Chancellor has been unable to rival | :47:47. | :47:50. | |
the competitive position of business rates that the Scottish | :47:50. | :47:52. | |
Government has put in place. We have the most competitive regime | :47:52. | :47:57. | |
for business rates of any part of the United Kingdom. That | :47:57. | :48:01. | |
demonstrates that Scotland is a part of the United Kingdom. It is | :48:01. | :48:06. | |
able to put in place measures that are supportive of business and | :48:06. | :48:10. | |
secure Investment in Scotland. That is why we are topping the league of | :48:10. | :48:14. | |
investment in the United Kingdom. The steps we are taking are | :48:14. | :48:17. | |
designed to make the country a competitive place to do business. | :48:17. | :48:24. | |
If the UK has a rate of 21%, what rate would you like in Scotland? | :48:24. | :48:28. | |
Discovers Government has always said we should have a competitive | :48:28. | :48:33. | |
position on corporation tax. -- and the Scottish Government. The people | :48:33. | :48:38. | |
of Scotland have on opportunity in 2014 to vote for that proposition | :48:38. | :48:40. | |
in the referendum we will put to the people. | :48:40. | :48:43. | |
Thank you. Let's get some more reaction from | :48:43. | :48:50. | |
Let's speak now to David Watt from the Institute of Directors. Has he | :48:50. | :49:00. | |
:49:00. | :49:00. | ||
What kind of role of the Liberal Democrats played in this? If you | :49:00. | :49:02. | |
look at the facial expressions of Nick Clegg, he doesn't look very | :49:02. | :49:08. | |
happy at all! Especially when the Chancellor said | :49:08. | :49:13. | |
there would be no resort to a mansion tax. That was one of the | :49:13. | :49:16. | |
great Liberal Democrat clauses. This is a very difficult state and | :49:17. | :49:20. | |
for any politician, not just the Liberal Democrats, to have to sell | :49:20. | :49:27. | |
to the voters. I felt they could have had is perhaps a bit more in | :49:27. | :49:32. | |
Pitt's on measures to help the supply side of the economy. -- | :49:32. | :49:39. | |
input. It but did not seem to be much help for small businesses. -- | :49:39. | :49:43. | |
they did not seem to be. That is the big missing factor. | :49:43. | :49:50. | |
Thank you. The that's all we have time for. | :49:50. | :49:55. |