The SNP has said independence is Scotland’s only escape route from the recklessness of the Westminster government after two reports show the UK’s bleak economic outlook.
CNBC reports that the UK’s recession is set to be as deep as Russia’s, with Goldman Sachs forecasting a 1.2% contraction in the UK real GDP over the course of this year.
This is well below all other G-10 major economies and only fractionally ahead of Russia (1.3%), a country that is waging war and impacted by economic sanctions.
In a report by The Economist, the Centre for European Reform estimates that by the second quarter of 2022, Brexit had hit GDP by as much as 6%, dragged down investment by 11% and depressed Britains’ trade goods by 7%.
Separately, the Centre for Economic Performance concluded that Brexit increased average food prices in the UK by about 3% annually in 2020 and 2021, and predicts this will worsen after all import controls are implemented in 2023.
Commenting, the SNP’s Economy spokesperson, Stewart Hosie MP said:
“We are getting almost daily reports from experts and economists showing the UK’s disastrous economic outlook, as a result of Brexit and Tory wreckonomics.
“Scotland doesn’t need to stay on this horror ride – we have the option to get off with independence.
“Only independence offers a route back to the EU and the Single Market – a market seven times the size of the UK’s – and an escape from Westminster governments we don’t vote for.
“For over twelve years the Tories at Westminster have ignored Scotland whilst simultaneously putting our businesses, livelihoods and economy at risk.
“It’s time decisions that affect Scotland were made in Scotland by governments we vote for, and that can only happen with the full powers of independence.”
