Commenting on today’s UK Government Budget statement from Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey, Dr Marie Macklin CBE said:  

“Today’s Budget was a chance to address some of the fundamental economic and social issues facing the UK, at a time when as a country we are presented with enormous challenges. With economic growth set to fall from 1.2% this year to 1% next year, this is not a government on a war footing.

This Burnham Government has parallels with the postwar 1945 Attlee Government, in that it has not only been bequeathed a housing crisis at the hands of a Conservative Government, but it has also inherited an economy in almost total meltdown. Britain’s current economic plight is a ‘financial Dunkirk’ and this Budget is not the economic rescue plan to stop the boat from sinking further into more troubled waters.

And while some of the measures outlined by the Chancellor go part of the way to addressing those challenges, there remain significant questions around how much more could and should be done.

While the support offered to households in terms of helping to cut winter fuel bills amid the ongoing cost of living crisis is welcome, it can only be seen as a sticking plaster which does not address the fundamental questions around improving domestic energy security in the face of geopolitical shocks.

More specifically, whilst the Chancellor mentioned the recent approval of the Jackdaw North Sea gas field, he remained silent as regards the looming choice on the Rosebank oil field, amid speculation that it will be rejected.

Rosebank should be approved – not just because of the boost it can deliver to Scottish jobs and investment, but because it can also play a part in securing that bigger prize of UK energy security.

It would also have been welcome to hear the Chancellor offer more in the way of support to small and medium sized businesses, which are the lifeblood of the UK economy. I do welcome ‘Named ‘Founders’ Relief’, with a 10% CGT rate applied to lifetime gains of up to £10m, in a bid to support the founders of our most successful firms, but again the Budget did not go far enough – particularly when it comes to providing immediate tax incentives to our blue-collar entrepreneurs and second-career entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurialism must be encouraged, not penalised.

The Chancellor’s announcement on extending rates relief for businesses in England is welcome for those it will benefit, but it is essential that that support is now matched by the Scottish Government.

Too many of our Scottish high streets have been allowed to become rundown and are a shadow of their former selves.  That has to change, and we need action here on business rates to help breathe new life into the hearts of our communities and the businesses, including local shops, pubs and restaurants, which support them.

The UK and Scotland are in urgent need of an economic rewiring which prioritises growth, jobs and reindustrialisation. Today’s Budget goes only a small step in that direction, leaving so much more to be done.”