The Economy Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

The Economy

Kirstene Hair Excerpts
Thursday 24th October 2019

(5 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Sajid Javid Portrait Sajid Javid
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Look, first I commend my hon. Friend for all the work that he has done, and continues to do, to support small businesses throughout the country. He has raised an important issue. He knows that work is ongoing to address that, but I would be happy to meet him and discuss it further.

Kirstene Hair Portrait Kirstene Hair (Angus) (Con)
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Is it not because of the hard work of this UK Government to balance the economy that we are spending more in the devolved nations, with an extra £1.2 billion for Scotland in the latest spending review? Does he agree that that is in stark contrast to the shadow Chancellor, who would enable a second independence referendum in Scotland on a whim, despite the will of the Scottish people, who do not want that referendum, despite the economic damage that that would cause, and despite the fact that he used to belong to a Unionist party?

Sajid Javid Portrait Sajid Javid
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My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In fact, the SNP’s obsession with another damaging referendum on independence is already hitting growth in Scotland, and that is why Scotland is lagging behind in growth terms compared with any other part of the UK.