The Tory made crisis resulting from their mini-budget explodes the myth that they are safe custodians of the economy. More importantly, it explodes the myth that Scotland is best to remain tied to a failing UK state.
Although most discussion has been about the U-turn on the 45p rate for those on incomes above (and often well above) £150,000 per year, we need to consider other issues that are even more damaging for the average citizen.
There is not a single person in Scotland who will not feel the impact of the Tory mismanagement of the economy.
Consider this; to pay for interventions to “cap” the cost of energy for households and at the same time cut a variety of taxes the UK government are choosing to go down the route of massive borrowing.
They seem to think borrowing is a good thing for the UK, except of course in Scotland where the Scottish Government is denied proper borrowing powers and must operate with a fixed budget.
The financial markets have been understandably unimpressed. It has led to a rise in the interest rate the UK must pay for money it borrows. We have seen volatility in the value of the pound and the prospect of more. This fuels inflation which affects everyone.
What is their reasoning for doing all this?
Well, they claim it is in part to address what is known as the supply side of the economy. In Scotland, we know all about this. Take for example the supply of labour.
Because of the Tory Brexit we have a severe shortage of people who in the past would have been able to come here to work in our NHS, as engineers in our factories, as seasonal farm workers and so on.
So what did the Tories do? They removed the cap on bankers’ bonuses because, according to the Chancellor they needed to attract more highly paid bankers to the City of London. But they have done nothing to attract the workers we need for the real economy.
This one example explodes another myth repeated by Liz Truss in her speech to the Tory conference. This is the myth that the Tories are pro-growth. If they wanted to grow the economy they would be welcoming people to come and work here, not raising Brexit-barriers.
READ MORE: HMRC tells teenagers they may have thousands of pounds waiting for them
Furthermore, if they really wanted to grow the economy they would be encouraging much more investment in business. But their policies are going to lead, I predict, to further and higher interest rate rises from the Bank of England.
This will make it more expensive for businesses to borrow money to invest in new technologies and other forms of investment that would help improve productivity and aid growth.
So, rather than aid growth, it will put barriers in the way.
And of course, rising interest rates are already leading to rising mortgage costs. Even worse, in the aftermath of the mini-budget, mortgage offerings were being removed, preventing countless number of young couples from getting on the housing ladder.
Perhaps of greatest concern, and particularly for those dependent upon support from the likes of Universal Credit, is the desire of the Tory government, if they can get away with it, to cut benefits and other forms of public expenditures.
Put simply to balance the books when you are reducing taxes and borrowing more the Tory solution has always been to massively cut public expenditure.
In every direction, the mini budget is going to restrict growth, and make life more expensive for everyone. For some, it will be catastrophic.
The economic case for independence has never been stronger.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel