Alex Salmond forecasts jobs boom if independent Scotland uses tax powers

 

James Cusick
Tuesday 19 November 2013 18:20 GMT
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Alex Salmond said his government believed that independence would lead to a new industrial strategy
Alex Salmond said his government believed that independence would lead to a new industrial strategy

An independent Scotland's ability to use tax powers, including a cut in corporation tax , would lead to a "jobs boom" and end Westminster's "one size fits all" economics policies, Scotland's First Minister has claimed.

Launching the last in a trinity of documents ahead of next week's detailed White Paper on independence, the new analysis highlights the potential benefits to Scotland in leaving the union.

Alex Salmond said his government believed that independence would lead to a new industrial strategy north of the border that would promote manufacturing and help deliver a "focussed, fairer and resilient economy."

Mr Salmond and Holyrood's finance minister, John Swinney, delivered the 200 page document in Dundee. It included claims that tailored policies centred on Scotland's " vast natural resources" and "huge human talent" would boost population growth and result in a thriving, more efficient economy.

Although almost entirely positive in outlook, it contained the economic caveat that any promised improvements would "take time" and that there were "no overnight solutions."

The White Paper this coming Tuesday is anticipated to be the focus for almost 10 months of heated debate on Scotland's future that will conclude with a yes-no referendum on September 18 next year.

The Dundee document comes after a report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) which forecast that an independent Scotland would eventually suffer from declining oil revenues and population ageing more acutely than the rest of the United Kingdom.

The IFS warned that Scotland's "fiscal gap" could lead to spending cuts or increased taxation.

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