Economy

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 9:51 am on 3 February 2005.

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Photo of Murdo Fraser Murdo Fraser Conservative 9:51, 3 February 2005

I do not believe that the Parliament should have responsibility for oil revenues as things stand. I certainly think, as Richard Lochhead knows, that there is an argument that the Parliament should have more financial responsibility. A lot more work needs to be done on that issue. The problem for the SNP is that it wants independence and it wants to balance the books, but the books do not balance as things stand.

We know all about the difficulties with the Scottish economy. To be fair, those difficulties are not of the SNP's making; the finger has to be pointed at the Scottish Executive. We have heard the figures time and again in the chamber. Economic growth is trailing behind the rest of the UK. The latest GDP figures show that the gap has again widened. There is a low level of business start-ups. New figures last week showed that the enterprise gap between Scotland and the UK has widened, with total entrepreneurial activity in Scotland falling over the past year.