Willie Rennie comments on GERS figures and "broad shoulders" of the UK, See Willie's response to Robson interview

Responding to today's GERS figures which show that Scotland’s deficit has increased by more than £4.5 billion in the past year, reaching more than double the proportion of the UK GDP figure, Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Willie Rennie said:

"These figures emphasise the importance of the broad shoulders of the United Kingdom to Scotland.

"Being part of the UK allows Scotland to focus on its own priorities, while benefiting from strong shared financial and defence institutions.

"Rather than whinging and trying to muddy the waters around these figures, the nationalists should get on with using the huge spending powers at their government's disposal to boost the Scottish economy and their time to drive down long wait for Scottish NHS services."

Additional Information:

Click here for the Telegraph artilce on GERS

What are GERS, click here , BBC web site page.

Rennie responds to Robison BBC interview:

Responding to Finance Secretary Shona Robison’s comments on BBC Radio Scotland, where she said that the Scottish Government would “have to take some very difficult decisions” about public finances, and warned of recruitment freezes and voluntary redundancies in the public sector, Scottish Liberal Democrat Willie Rennie MSP said:

“Shona Robison has clearly taken some lessons on financial mismanagement from Liz Truss.

“No matter how much they try to spin it, SNP ministers are taking these decisions because they have had a habit of making costly blunders for almost two decades.

“From blowing the budget on the ferries to selling Scotland’s prize seabed on the cheap, all the SNP can do now is let everyone else clean up after them.

“People need a government that will invest in them, which is why Scottish Liberal Democrats want to get our economy growing so that we can lift up our public services and allow communities across the country to thrive."