The Scottish Government

Finance and Sustainable Growth Secretary John Swinney

Friday, November 30, 2007

For too long Scotland's economy has underperformed. Not only does our historically low growth rate compare poorly with the UK, but we are left standing by successful small independent countries like Ireland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

For too long politicians have sat complacently while young bright and mobile Scots have left this country to seek better opportunities elsewhere. The world is full of successful Scots. We want to create the opportunities to enable our talented people to build a successful Scotland.

Ours is a government of ambition. That is why we are determined to match or exceed the UK's growth rate by 2011. We will create the conditions for successful business and through them make Scotland wealthier. And we want to see more Scots sharing in that wealth.

We want Scots to benefit from the learning process on a lifelong basis - we want people to go to university or college to improve their chances of a good job, or to improve their performance in the job they are in and so to contribute ever more to the economic growth of our nation.

We can make a good start with the powers currently available to the parliament. With greater powers we could do so much more - more to attract and retain business activity, for example, and ensure that the additional wealth they create helps to fund the front-line services we need to make our country more productive, more competitive, and just.

With over 1,500 responses in two weeks I am delighted at the overwhelming response to the national conversation. I welcome the debate it has generated across all sectors of Scottish society on ways to make our country more successful, wealthier and fairer.

This blog is now closed to further comments.

Comments

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• 121. 119. I made no promises the SNP did - Fife 2 - Fife

  Thursday, December 20, 2007 21:23

  #120
  
  Who doesn't read what?
  
  Who said that they would put 1.000 New police officers on the streets? The SNP did in their manifesto, not denied when challenged in the Parliament.
  
  Who said that changing the commitment from 1,000 NEW to 1,000 EQUIVALENT? YOUR First Minister, not mine!
  
  Who said the increase in training would be 500 by year 4, YOUR First Minister, not mine!
  
  Do you walk about with your fingers in your ears, whilst looking at the world through rose coloured glasses?
  
  Thought to ponder, now that Fife is run by SNP/Lib-Dem coalition. Fife has gone from the cheapest deliverer of care in the community to the most expensive. Who's fault? Why the last administration??? CARE COSTS IN ONE INSTANCE FROM £4.00 / WEEK TO £160.00 / WEEK. Yes a 40x increase. Still proud of your party?
  
  Subsidised sporting options for single parent families reduced from 50% to 10%, while Fife employees now get the 50% reduction for the 'stress' of the work? So much for the youth of Fife participating in the 2012 Olympics and 2014 Commonwealth Games.
  
  If this is what freezing the Community charge means, forget it. Only 3 years 8 months to go!!!
  
  
  

• 122. Gordon Murray - Livingston

  Sunday, December 23, 2007 19:45

  121. 119. I made no promises the SNP did - Fife 2 - Fife
  Thursday, December 20, 2007 21:23
  
  Sorry old Sourpuss, but this First Minister is as much yours as anybody else's. You've given him far more support than someone like me ever could.
  
  btw What did YOUR First Minister promise? Not much he hadn't first cleared with his boss, other than not to get caught again committing adultery, like his ministers would now ditch lifelong committments to CND and support new WMD delivery systems and nuclear warheads to be stationed beside Scotland's main centers of population?
  
  YOU SAID:
  QUOTE
  >>>the promise of 500 police recruits in training after 4 years still falls short of the target, especially since 2,500 + officers are due for retiral in the same time span.<<< END QUOTE.
  
  Last comment from me on this, it's become tedious.
  Tulliallan turns out thousands of new PCs every year, and has done for decades.
  
  As for the SNP being my party, I am not and never have been a member, activist or a spokesman for any political party or organisation.
  My views are my own.
  
  However the more guph I see spouted like yours makes me consider my position, I expect I'm not the only one either.
  
  Once again, the question is: do you have a point of view that is your own? Do you have even a single positive contribution to make, other than to make the old LibLab Executive appear less and less credible or attractive by your continual and petty sniping?
  
  Frankly that big woman who keeps turning up on the ITV for Labour in Scotland is doing a grand enough job there that you shouldn't have to bother yourself.
  
  
  

• 123. I made no promises the SNP did 3 - Fife - Fife

  Thursday, December 27, 2007 22:18

  #122
  
  Instead of reading my comments and getting upset why don't you get upset with your own government? I use the term YOUR government because you seem to think I am making up the figures, when I am merely quoting YOUR First Minister. He said the 1,000 new recruits would NOT be met as an increase from the numbers of police BEFORE the election to AFTER the election. i.e. when asked if the numbers would increase from 16,000 + to 17,000 + YOUR Justice Minister almost disappeared as he went into a spin trying to justify the FM's stance. 'Weasel Words', is how the FM suggested the world would regard his climb down from 1,000 NEW to 1,000 EQUIVALENT. If Tulliallan turns out 1,000's of recruits then why the climbdown?
  
  If your FM can claim the war in Iraq was not in his name despite a majority in the country and parliament supporting it, why should I support a minority government that does not even deliver on the promises it made to get elected?
  
  In fact the Justice Minister's 'expose' of the numbers stopped by the British Transport Police of travellers on BR as opposed to the 137? stopped by Scottish Police forces says more of the paucity of police on our streets then anything else. If you were a terrorist where would you plant a bomb? Aeroplane, 100% check on passengers, Train ??% but thousands anyway 1%? or bus 0.0000?% If we can't stop and search efficiently for knives or bombs how are we going to remove air-guns from Scottish society. Enough to arm 1 in 10 of the population at the last count? Stop picking fights and start doing the job.
  
  PS did you know that in 100% of criminal trials at least 1 person is guilty of perjury? In short if the defendant is found 'Guilty' every one who spoke in favour of the defendant is guilty of perjury because the jury or judge chose to believe the prosecution. Similarly if found 'Innocent', the prosecutors are guilty of perjury.
  
  So why waste time on Tommy Sheridan, who was found 'Innocent' by the jury in a CIVIL trial and it is his accusers who are guilty of perjury until an appeal reverses the decision.
  
  Same tactics as used by Mugabe in Zimbabwe and the ex-dictator of Pakistan, M'Beki in South Africa.....??? If you can't be sure your political opponents will be beaten at the ballot box have them arrested!!!! A complete waste of police resources!!
  
  Maybe more searches in the Bus Stations would be more reassuring to the travelling public!!!

• 124. Dave Eastabrook - Largs, Ayrshire

  Friday, December 28, 2007 12:58

  122. Gordon Murray - Livingston and 123. I made no promises the SNP did 3 - Fife - Fife
  
  Is there any chance you two could take your personal battle to email? I'm sure if you both emailed the moderator with your identities (well, one of the many for fifey), he/she would send each other your email addresses.
  
  Seems to me your battle has nothing to do with the topics of the overall conversation, let alone with "Finance and Sustainable Growth" - the title of this blog.

• 125. I made no promises the SNP did 4 - Fife - Fife

  Friday, December 28, 2007 15:24

  #124 Dave Easterbrook
  
  You may not believe me but I agree with you. I am merely responding to comments which are clearly designed to forment division by attacking the opposition parties instead of debating the issues.
  
  Do or did you expect the SNP to meet its promises? I did not and did not vote for them, so I was not disappointed.
  
  It's quite another argument to accept that politicians excuse their failure to meet said promises by blaming others for their failure!! It flies in the face of reason to be told that the Government in Westminster is responsible when it is clearly bad management of the economy by the incumbents in Holyrood.
  
  I just think that I am in order saying so. You, of course, are entitled to your own opinion. It is after all a democratic society I belong to.

• 126. Gordon Murray - Livingston

  Wednesday, January 2, 2008 15:32

  124. Dave Eastabrook - Largs, Ayrshire
  Friday, December 28, 2007 12:58
  
  Thankyou for your guidance Dave, I take it you are snowed under by the response to the point you made back in November?
  
  I presume you missed my comment that my part in fifeys ego trip is now terminated, stable doors and all that.
  
  Happy New Year.

• 127. sid burnett - aberdeenshire

  Friday, January 4, 2008 08:49

  as a roustabout on the rigs in 75 the americans said to me that the oil would last for at least 60 years.so far they have been right no matter what westminster has told us and this includes todays gordon brown alister darling ect ect.(turn coats i like to call them)that" oil is now 100$ a barrel.the opposition parties keep knocking the way the money has been allotted.double the revenue at 100$ a barrelworks out at 5 billion you dont have to be a rocket scientist to work it out and its scotlands money.with five billion we could live up too all the promises and quicker too.what i cannot understand is why we havent had them into an international courtfor theft .could someone please tell me as i sit and watch some of the people of scotland dieing of the cold and for lack of medication.yet the oil money still props up a bankrupt nation south of the border

• 128. Dave Eastabrook - Largs, Ayrshire

  Monday, January 7, 2008 18:16

  126. Gordon Murray - Livingston
  Happy New Year to you and fifey, and all.
  
  No, there has been no response to my Novemeber posting, and in fact this "National Conversation" has only had one posting by a Scottish Government Minister or MSP on any list.
  
  It would be nice to see at least some discussion on these lists by some of the 129.

• 129. Allan M - Largs

  Thursday, January 10, 2008 14:23

  I'm all for renewables, but the biggest point missed was that more than 70% of our energy comes from fossil fuels.
  I'm disappointed in the somewhat selective response to John Hutton's announcement regarding nuclear power. To say that they are "unwanted and unnecessary new nuclear power stations" without asking anyone (no-one I know has ever been asked, or maybe that's because I live near a nuclear power station?) or without mentioning how Scotland is going to make up that 8% energy shortfall is shortsighted.
  The Government need to do something, whether it is enforcing the building of windfarms (locally there are protests holding up the renewables build in my area).
  I'm not fond of nuclear, but I can't see how we can provide the energy we need without the big push to enforce uilding of renewable stations.

• 130. Pat Duncan - Edinburgh

  Monday, January 14, 2008 12:22

  I am not for independence because I believe that, once you start to break up or fragment anything, power and strength diminish and in-fighting starts -- with all the subsequent problems. Also, reading all these blogs, all I seem to pick up is 'chip on shoulder' attitudes, the 'we was robbed' syndrome. Scotland wasn't the only area that lost fishing rights -- many areas of England, Ireland and Wales suffered, mainly due to the fact that Ministers rolled over, belly up, to the EU. As for reclaiming oil and gas supremacy -- dream on. And that's just what it is, an unrealistic dream. Frankly, any Executive-with-dreams-of-being-a-Government that can waste time debating the rights and wrongs of mink farming when there's not a blessed mink farm to be seen with a telescope needs to first taste reality. Unity, no matter how imperfect, gives us all strength; separation will lead to a plethora of blethering folks each out to carve their own little bit of power. 'Oh men of little brief authority as would make the angels weep' -- to miss-quote furiously. STICK TOGETHER.

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