Medium-term Financial Strategy

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 30 May 2019.

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Photo of Derek Mackay Derek Mackay Scottish National Party

The redactions in the statements are what was agreed by the Parliament protocols on sensitive data. That should not be news to anyone—that is how we have been doing it since we first had this sensitive data. A statement with a few redactions is better than the alternative budget that I got from the Labour Party—a total blank page.

We will continue to invest in the public services of Scotland, to oppose austerity and to try to mitigate the impact of Brexit, should it happen—there is still an opportunity to avert Brexit. If we were able to avert Brexit and end austerity, there would be a massive windfall to the public resources of Scotland and we would be able to invest where the Tories have constrained us.

Using the powers that we have, I have been balancing the books responsibly, allocating some resources to the reserve—that was opposed by the Labour Party—and being prepared to use the reserve borrowing powers, if required, in relation to the forecast error, if that comes to pass. We will have more data on that in the future. We will respond accordingly and in a way that ensures sustainability for our public services.