The SNP called on the UK Government to change plan on the economy and boost capital spending on infrastructure projects, after Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said the triple A credit rating was not the ‘be all and end all.’
The credit rating has previously been hailed by the UK Government as evidence of the credibility of the government’s economic programme.
SNP Treasury spokesperson Stewart Hosie MP said:
“After talking up the importance of the UK’s credit rating, Danny Alexander is now desperately downplaying expectations.
“His comments signal a remarkable turnaround from the UK Government which has used the credit rating as an excuse to press ahead with their failing austerity agenda.
“The UK Government’s economic plan simply isn’t working – if the credit rating isn’t the ‘be-all-and-end-all’ then surely it’s the death-knell for an austerity agenda which is damaging to the UK’s growth prospects.
“The Treasury has been desperately clinging to the triple A credit rating to justify an agenda of severe cuts without any economic stimulus. With two of the three main credit agencies already putting the UK on negative outlook, it looks like they are also losing faith. This leaves them with nowhere to turn but a u-turn.
“The UK Government needs to get capital spending up now, in order to get growth and confidence back into UK economy.
“The UK’s approach contrasts starkly with the Scottish Government which is making the most of every available pound to help grow the economy out of recession. The Scottish Government has consistently called for an injection of capital investment from the UK Government in “shovel ready” projects - but so far this has fallen on deaf ears.”
“It’s time for the Coalition Government to stop ignoring all the evidence that their policies aren’t working, switch to a plan B and invest in “shovel ready” projects to get the economy moving again.”
The credit rating has previously been hailed by the UK Government as evidence of the credibility of the government’s economic programme.
SNP Treasury spokesperson Stewart Hosie MP said:
“After talking up the importance of the UK’s credit rating, Danny Alexander is now desperately downplaying expectations.
“His comments signal a remarkable turnaround from the UK Government which has used the credit rating as an excuse to press ahead with their failing austerity agenda.
“The UK Government’s economic plan simply isn’t working – if the credit rating isn’t the ‘be-all-and-end-all’ then surely it’s the death-knell for an austerity agenda which is damaging to the UK’s growth prospects.
“The Treasury has been desperately clinging to the triple A credit rating to justify an agenda of severe cuts without any economic stimulus. With two of the three main credit agencies already putting the UK on negative outlook, it looks like they are also losing faith. This leaves them with nowhere to turn but a u-turn.
“The UK Government needs to get capital spending up now, in order to get growth and confidence back into UK economy.
“The UK’s approach contrasts starkly with the Scottish Government which is making the most of every available pound to help grow the economy out of recession. The Scottish Government has consistently called for an injection of capital investment from the UK Government in “shovel ready” projects - but so far this has fallen on deaf ears.”
“It’s time for the Coalition Government to stop ignoring all the evidence that their policies aren’t working, switch to a plan B and invest in “shovel ready” projects to get the economy moving again.”
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