Autumn Budget ‘must not repeat mistakes of the past’, says Shona Robison

Rachel Reeves has been urged to prioritise investment in next month's Autumn Budget by finance secretary Shona Robison.  

Robison warned against “repeating mistakes of the past” by cutting spending.  

Later today during a debate in the Scottish Parliament on the UK Budget and Scotland’s priorities, she will urge the UK Government to come up with a strategy to substantially increasing public investment.  

The finance secretary’s comments follow a letter published in the Financial Times earlier this month. Among the signatories are former cabinet secretary Lord Gus O’Donnell, and economists including Professor Mariana Mazzucato and Professor Anton Muscatelli who have warned the chancellor that cutting public investment in the upcoming Budget would damage the “foundations of the economy”. 

The group behind the letter urged Reeves to overhaul fiscal rules to enable more public spending and said the plans inherited by the current government to reduce investment spending as a share of GDP are responsible for an “inbuilt bias” against investment. 

Robison will also pledge to work with the UK Government to ensure the budget best meets the needs of the people of Scotland. 

Speaking ahead of the debate, Robison said: “The Autumn Budget is a chance for the Chancellor to prioritise investment over spending cuts. As a group of leading economists argued last week, UK Government under-investment has resulted in a ‘vicious circle of stagnation and decline’, meaning a change in direction is needed. 

“Like them, I am calling on the UK Government not to repeat the mistakes of the past, providing the funding we need for our core missions of eradicating child poverty, building prosperity, improving our public services and protecting the planet. 

“I stand ready to work with the Chancellor to achieve this goal.”