Chamber and committees

It does not sound as though you agree with the business community on very much, and it is not very impressed so far.

Let me ask you about income tax divergence. Last week, we head evidence from those in the hospitality sector that, given the impact of income tax divergence, they now have to pay higher salaries to attract people to Scotland because tax rates here are higher than they are south of the border. I have heard many times from people in business, particularly those in the finance sector, that they now struggle to encourage people to relocate to Scotland because of the tax differential. What assessment have you made of the impact that the income tax differential will have on the long-term growth of the Scottish economy?

Net immigration into the UK is at record high levels, but Scotland does worse than every part of England, apart from the north-west, at attracting new immigrants to live and work here. Clearly, there is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Good morning, cabinet secretary and officials. I want to follow up on some of the lines of questioning from the convener. According to the Scottish Parliament information centre’s briefing, the Scottish Government’s overall budget for the coming year has increased in cash terms by 4.5 per cent and in real terms by 2.8 per cent on the previous year’s budget. Do you agree with those figures?

Perhaps immigrants are not coming here because they do not see the economic opportunities and do not see a Government that prioritises the economy, as we have just seen from your budget.

I have no more questions.

Good morning, minister. I remind members of my entry in the register of interests and my connection to the Scotch Whisky Association.

In that tone, minister, how does the Scottish Government view the opportunities from the CPTPP, specifically the opportunities for growing exports of Scotch whisky to important and developing markets? How will the liberalisation of trade and potential reduction in tariffs in countries such as Malaysia, which are currently an important market for Scotch whisky but with very high tariffs, benefit the Scottish economy?

I am glad that we agree that your budget is up in real terms by 2.8 per cent—

In that context, with the overall budget up, this is about the choices that the Government is making. As the convener pointed out, the budget for your Cabinet portfolio has been cut by 8.3 per cent in real terms. In real terms, the budget for tourism is down by 12.3 per cent, the budget for the Scottish National Investment Bank is down by 29.2 per cent, the budget for employability is down by 24.2 per cent and the budget for enterprise, trade and investment is down by 16.7 per cent. Overall, there are cuts of £118 million in cash terms against a backdrop of the overall budget having increased. What does that tell us about the priority that the Government gives to growing the economy?

You have just told me that the Government has chosen to prioritise other areas, not the economy. In fact, the SPICe briefing confirms that. There are eight portfolios in which spending has increased and only three in which spending has been cut in real terms, including the wellbeing economy, fair work and energy portfolio, which is yours. Do you not think that your job in Cabinet is to fight for the Scottish economy and a fair share of the cake? You are clearly not doing a very good job.

That is quite strong language—a “lack of respect”. Do you think that the Scottish Government is just not listening to your concerns?

Thank you.