David Mundell: Labour's mismanagement will slash Scottish budget by billions

It was Scottish questions yesterday.

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell asked about the block grant:

"Largely as a result of this Government’s reckless tax and spend approach, the Scottish block grant has, indeed, grown to twice the size of 10 years ago. Despite some implausibly optimistic forecasts in the Budget, it is clear that the Treasury is now on course to run out of money, yet all the First Minister has done is attempt to persuade the Government that no cut at all can be made to the block grant. Has the Secretary of State informed the Treasury that, following this development, the Chancellor now looks like only the second most deluded politician in Scotland?

Mr. Murphy: That is entirely pleasant. I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman has entered himself for the gold medal in that particular competition following his celebration of the 30th anniversary of Mrs. Thatcher’s ascent to power and the disruption of Scottish industry. I am glad to see him in his place following his celebration of that anniversary and Scotland’s commiseration of it over the weekend.

In the previous recessions of the 1980s and 1990s, a generation of young people were abandoned to a life of poverty and a life on benefit. It is our intention to do, wherever possible, the exact opposite to what the Tories did, so that a generation of young people are not abandoned to a life of unemployment free of any hope.

David Mundell: The Secretary of State can resort to all the old mantras that he wants, but they will do him no good because the public know where the buck stops for this crisis. Does he really disagree with the view of the Centre for Public Policy for Regions that the years of the Scottish Executive coffers being full to overflowing thanks to block grant increases are over? Will he confirm that, as a direct result of Labour’s financial mismanagement of the UK, up to £4 billion in real terms will have to be cut from the Scottish budget over the next four years? Is it not about time that he and his Prime Minister finally took responsibility for Labour’s catastrophic economic failures and, in particular, the damage that they have done to Scotland’s public finances?

Mr. Murphy: The hon. Gentleman refers to relying on old mantras. I would never mention the old lady or the iron lady in those terms, but if he wishes to insult her in that way, he can do so. The fact is that Scots know what happened in the previous recession. They know that industry was destroyed and that instead of supporting that industry and the people who were made redundant, the Conservatives simply cast them aside. Hundreds of thousands of Scots were made unemployed; hundreds of thousands of Scots were deliberately pushed on to incapacity benefit and a life free of hope, which is why I am happy to announce today that we will be organising a jobs summit next month in Scotland to ensure that the lessons are learned from the previous recession, so that young Scots can benefit from the £1 billion announcement that the UK Government have made about preventing long-term youth unemployment in Scotland."

Readers may note that Mr Murphy entirely swerved the question.

Shadow Minister for Scotland Ben Wallac wanted to know whether the Government thought devolution had been a success:

"It is 10 years since devolution and since my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell) and I entered the Scottish Parliament as two brand new MSPs. We should not let the occasion go without registering that. It is of course amazing that the silence from the party that introduced devolution 10 years ago has been deafening. Does the Secretary of State think that because devolution has meant that the Prime Minister has had less influence on economic development in Scotland, the country will be in a better position to weather the storm than the rest of the UK? Is it not ironic that the one part of the country that is shielded from the Prime Minister’s economic policies will be the country that he is from?

Mr. Murphy: I welcome the fact that the Parliament that the hon. Gentleman opposed continues to be a success. After his short term in the Scottish Parliament, I welcome him to the green Benches here in the Palace of Westminster. The fact is that Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales are stronger together and would be weaker apart. Together we have this unity and Members on both sides of the House—except for four or five who sit opposite—have a sense that our country has a remarkable history. We have achieved so much together and together we can get through this recession strongly, effectively and successfully and we can continue to be the brilliant, wonderful, successful nation that we all believe that we can be."

Shadow Justice Minister Henry Bellingham posed an important question on the electronic tagging of sheep:

"Is the Minister aware that a recent survey carried out by NFU Scotland revealed that 74 per cent. of farmers said they would reduce the size of their flocks if electronic tagging with individual registration came in? Is she aware that these EU proposals could do untold harm to Scottish agriculture? What is wrong with the existing system?

Ann McKechin: The Government recognise the concerns that the costs could well be disproportionate to the benefits. That is why we have been working closely with the devolved Administrations, including the Scottish Government, to seek a number of concessions. In fact, we met the Commission again on 4 May, when it appeared supportive of our new proposals about third party reporting; we very much hope that they will be passed. We recognise that there are additional costs, but this is a mandatory scheme and it must be implemented by the end of this year."

Someone always asks if there is a Secretary of State for England in threads about Scotland or Wales. Just to clear that one up, the answer is no.

Tom Greeves