The Allied victory in Iraq has been followed by a big improvement
in Labour support in Scotland, with the election now being just two weeks away. Unfortunately for Jack McConnell, the latest news on the economy
is not good:
By the fourth quarter, the barometer predicts Scottish GDP will be growing by less than 1 per cent per annum. It is the weakest reading on the HBOS gauge since records begin in 1986.
The Labour party is implacably opposed to calls for fiscal autonomy for the Scottish Parliament and this position used to be supported by much of Scottish business. Things
are changing:
LABOUR’S hopes of winning over Scotland’s business community suffered a double setback last night when two of the country’s leading entrepreneurs called for the Scottish Parliament to be given more power and another publicly abandoned Labour, four years after signing up for the party.
We won't get business-friendly policies until basic economic realities are understood. The Scottish Parliament needs to responsible for raising its own expenditure. Tax and spend is bad enough. Spend and spend is worse.