UK GDP Figures - Warning From John Swinney

27th January 2011

Speaking in response to the publication of UK GDP figures, which show the UK economy contracted by 0.5 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2010, Finance Secretary John Swinney on Tuesday said:"Today's shock UK figures entirely vindicate the Scottish Government's decision to defer the UK coalition Government's Emergency Budget cuts for 2010/11 to next year, so that we can continue investing and building recovery now. Clearly, Westminster's cuts go too far and too fast, and are choking off the UK's recovery.

"The UK coalition Government can't say they weren't warned - the Scottish Government, expert economists, and many others have been warning for months about the Treasury risking recovery. This is a wake up call, and the UK Government needs to change course.

"The Scottish Government is building recovery in Scotland, with a construction sector that is outperforming the UK as a whole, and Scotland is the only nation in the UK experiencing rising employment and falling unemployment. In Scotland, we have taken the right decisions, accelerating capital spending and deferring the coalition's cuts.

"The UK's GDP decline underlines the fragility of that recovery, and the damage done by Westminster's cuts - including a massive cut of over 35 per cent in Scotland's capital budget over the spending period, which is why we have brought forward a 2.5 billion pounds Non-Profit Distributing infrastructure investment programme to mitigate the impact of the cuts.

"The UK's GDP fall also reinforces the need for Scotland to gain job-creating economic and financial powers, so that we can grow the Scottish economy - the only alternative to being on the receiving end of Westminster's growth-destroying cuts."