Budget (Scotland) (No 3) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 3:28 pm on 4 February 2009.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Keith Brown Keith Brown Scottish National Party 3:28, 4 February 2009

As a supporter of the Scottish Government, I am delighted that it appears possible not only for the budget to be passed but for it to be passed with near-unanimous support. If that were to happen, we should all relish the achievement, which would be an achievement for not only minority government but the inclusive politics for which we all stated our support at the outset, even if the latter has not been much in evidence thus far in the debate.

Even though saying this puts me at risk of being accused of crawling, I will say it: the achievement has a great deal to do with the businesslike and straightforward approach of the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, not least in the way in which he dealt with the less-than-easy job of negotiating with several other parties—parties whose views diverge legitimately from those of his Government and, indeed, of other Opposition parties.

I am sure that, compared with the past few weeks, last year's budget process now seems like a cakewalk and that the cabinet secretary will take even greater satisfaction in the passing of this year's budget bill than he did in the passage of last year's. If it is passed today, the budget will represent an achievement above all for the Parliament. We know that there are many and vocal interests who seem happy only when the Parliament is seen to stumble, and it will be interesting to see how they use this situation to deride the Parliament again—as I am sure they will.

I will focus on an area in which, I believe, the budget has been substantially improved since we discussed it last week. It might not cost any money, and it has already been the subject of some derision by David McLetchie, but I believe that the commitment by some parties to co-ordinate their activities to promote borrowing powers for the Parliament is significant.

I mention that commitment not simply because it has been the subject of one party's discussions with the Scottish Government over the past week. I mentioned borrowing powers during the debate on the report from the Council of Economic Advisers, and I lodged a consensual motion on the issue two weeks ago. I have sought support from other parties for an agreed approach on borrowing powers, and I hope that those parties will encourage their members to support that motion, especially as we are discussing the matter tomorrow.

How powerful an argument it would be if the whole Parliament could agree on the need for more borrowing powers. It is easy to attach party-political considerations and party advantage to the initiative, but any party in the Parliament that harbours ambitions to govern in the future has to pause for only a second to realise how willing it would be to have those powers even in good economic times, far less during the current economic recession.

Wendy Alexander has previously mentioned the urgent action that is required to tackle the downturn. That is true both in absolute terms, with respect to how quickly action can be taken to help save and promote jobs, and in relative terms, with respect to how quickly that can be done compared with other economies.

We are substantially behind the curve when it comes to borrowing powers, which are one of the fundamental tools that Governments are currently using to address the economic downturn. As we have heard from civic Scotland—this has been said, for example, by Reform Scotland, the Scottish Trades Union Congress, the Liberal Democrats and, in a previous debate, Malcolm Chisholm—there is general support for the idea of borrowing powers. However, at least not until now, there has been no real urgency on the issue.

In last week's debate, I said that the Calman commission could meet quickly to address the matter. There is no reason why it has to wait for its next meeting: it could meet quickly, agree a position—if there is consensus—and work with the Scottish Government, as now appears possible, on a joint approach to Westminster in order to deal with the issue as quickly as possible.

Public-private partnership is still a matter of division between the parties, and I do not intend to rehearse the arguments, but they are substantially superseded both by the new accountancy procedures that we will be obliged to follow in the late spring and by the fact that PPP projects down south are being delayed and deferred because of the lack of private finance for funding them.

We are perhaps behind civic Scotland on borrowing powers. All sorts of bodies have supported them in the past, and there is no reason why we cannot act quickly now. The fact that we appear to be moving quickly today to agree a budget that was not agreed last week shows that, when the Parliament wants to do something and when there is consensus, we can move very quickly. Members are giving their own reasons for their positions last week, which are not their positions this week, but, whatever those reasons, the severity of the economic downturn is one of the major things that have been playing on people's minds.

I do not mean this on a party basis, but there has perhaps been a time lag for some people in appreciating how severe the economic downturn is and how quickly it is happening. If we vote unanimously, or nearly unanimously, in favour of the budget, having moved very quickly through the three stages of the budget bill in one day, there is no reason why we cannot show the same urgency of action on borrowing powers.

Despite my sometimes harsh words towards the Liberal Democrats in the past, I appreciate the significance of their commitment to campaign against the £500 million of cuts that are coming down to us. That will be a key subject of political debate in future years, and to have support against the cuts is important.

Considering the various initiatives that members have mentioned—help for apprentices and building works, for example—we could do so much more in the short term if we had borrowing powers. Much more labour-intensive activity would be possible, which would help to soak up unemployment and provide opportunities for apprentices to go into real jobs. That is a crucial aspect in the Parliament's consideration of the current economic crisis.

Some parties might have fun having a go at each other today—that is part of the debate—but I hope that we can concentrate on the fact that, at least for a brief moment, we have some unanimity, consensus and a willingness to work in an urgent fashion. I certainly hope that that carries through into the issue of borrowing powers for the Parliament.