The SNP has accused the UK government of holding Scotland back from realising its full ambition on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
The Scottish Government’s recent publications on independence explore ten neighbouring countries – and shows how they are all happier, fairer and wealthier than the UK.
The first paper in the series – Independence in the Modern World: Wealthier, Happier, Fairer: Why Not Scotland? – shows that the UK’s labour and product markets are among the most deregulated in the advanced world and all the comparator countries except Ireland spend more on research and development than the UK.
Kenneth Gibson MSP said:
“Scotland has a highly skilled workforce and a thriving business sector – but under Westminster control, our nation is held back from realising its full potential.
“The Scottish Government’s Building A New Scotland series showed business investment tends to be higher in all the comparator countries.
“Scotland is growing eight times faster than the UK on Foreign Direct Investment projects but the UK as a whole has the lowest rate of business investment in the OECD apart from Greece.
“Our neighbouring European nations are all ahead of the UK – so why not Scotland?
“Westminster is consumed by a Tory leadership debate that Scotland is almost completely excluded from, while the UK flags at the bottom of the leaderboard.
“That’s why Scotland needs the full powers of independence – to seize the opportunities, to maximise our talents and build a better nation for all who live here.”
