Policy Profile: Ross Greer, Scottish Greens

With a General Election called for 4 July, Insider is rounding up economic spokespeople from all the major political parties to quiz them on the policies that will potentially impact Scottish businesses.

To keep things objective, we asked everyone the same set of questions.

For this edition, it's the Scottish Green Party's West of Scotland MSP, Ross Greer.

• What is your position, party experience and business background?

I am the party's finance spokesperson and member of the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee, from 2021 to present.

• What's your assessment of the current Scottish business landscape?

Scotland’s economy faces most of the same challenges as the rest of the UK, but any assessment should start with its incredible strengths.

Our knowledge economy is world-leading across a number of sectors, driven in large part by our university sector punching well above its weight for a nation of our size.

Our vast renewable energy resources are (finally) driving rapid growth in the green economy - 27,000 to 42,000 jobs in 2021 alone.

Sectors such as film and TV, which were previously stagnant for a long time due to inadequate government support, have exploded over recent years, creating significant knock-on growth in areas such as tourism.

That being said, our business landscape is hampered by the same structural weaknesses seen across the UK. For example, we celebrate the fact that Scotland outperforms every other part of the UK than London and the south east of England when it comes to foreign direct investment, but in many ways this ultimately weakens our position.

Far too much of our economy is in the hands of too few people, largely out-with Scotland and for whom our society’s wellbeing will never be the priority. We need an economy where ownership is far more evenly spread and where that ownership lies overwhelmingly in the hands of those who actually live here, rather than multinational corporations. This will be key to insulating Scotland as best we can from global economic shocks, trade wars, etc.

The UK’s hostile and self-defeating immigration policies present one of the single greatest risks to a Scottish economy already facing workforce shortages, which are only set to get markedly worse in the coming years due to our ageing population. The Scottish Greens know that any serious plan for our economy, particularly in rural Scotland, must include a transformational shift in immigration policy.

Under the Conservatives, 14 years of austerity, particularly in relation to capital infrastructure, have significantly weakened our economy relative to many of our European neighbours. Serious investment in our public transport infrastructure for example, would have major economic as well as environmental benefits.

The UK overall is a low-wage economy, and while Scotland performs relatively well compared to England outside of London and the south east, we still lag far behind where we could be.

All of the necessary components exist to create an economy with far higher average wages, secure jobs and decent terms and conditions for workers. Doing so will require far braver and more interventionist government policies however.

‘Letting the market decide’ in a country with the UK’s structural weaknesses has simply resulted in huge transfers of wealth not just into the hands of a tiny number of individuals, but also a huge transfer of wealth out of the country via the multinationals and foreign owners with the clout to drive an economy which advantages them rather than smaller, independent and Scotland-based businesses.

• What does your party - if elected - plan to do to support Scottish businesses?

The Scottish Greens would end the disaster of austerity and significantly increase public spending in priority areas. This would include public transport and other infrastructure projects which are not only to the benefit of communities and the climate, but which are essential components to a more productive and resilient economy.

Reversing the UK Government’s cut to Scotland’s capital budget would allow for a significant increase in rural house-building for example, tackling a key cause of workforce shortages.

Unlike Labour, we would overhaul UK immigration policy, ending the ‘hostile environment’ policy, scrapping the cruel Rwanda deportation scheme and abolishing the institutionally racist Home Office, redistributing its responsibilities to other government departments. While our immigration policies would be rooted in the fundamental rights of individuals, they would also benefit Scottish businesses, by more easily allowing those who wish to live and work here to fill the many acute gaps in our labour market.

Our goal is for Scotland to be an independent EU member state, but in the immediate term we would push for the closest possible alignment between the UK and the EU, eliminating post-Brexit trade barriers which have proven disastrous for small businesses and exporters in particular.

Our Green New Deal investment programme to tackle the climate crisis would include strict supply chain conditions, ensuring that Scottish and UK-based businesses are the biggest beneficiaries of this new industrial revolution, rather than repeating previous cycles of outsourcing.

Both Scotland and the UK overall also suffer from a lack of economic focus and planning. When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. The Scottish Greens will be honest about the sectors we see as being of strategic importance and focus the efforts of government there, while not losing sight of the wider economy. These sectors would most obviously include renewable energy generation, but also domestic manufacturing and supply chains, for everything from turbine blades to heat pumps.

We would reform taxation law and rigorously tackle tax avoidance to ensure that larger businesses and wealthy individuals who offshore their financial arrangements are not at an advantage over businesses and individuals who pay their fare share here in Scotland and the UK.

• Within this, are there any key priorities to tackle first?

Our Green New Deal, the details of which will be announced shortly, would be our top economic priority in government.

This significant package of investment in key sectors and public infrastructure would mirror the US Inflation Reduction Act and the EU Green New Deal insofar as recognising that significant public investment is not only essential to tackling the climate crisis, but also to building a prosperous, modern and green economy.

While onshore planning is devolved, we recognise its importance to economic prosperity and would continue the work we pushed while in the Scottish Government, for example to reduce timescales for renewable energy developments to receive planning consent.

• And how will any major changes be paid for or legislated for?

We will not join other parties in pretending that additional public spending can somehow sit alongside no changes in existing spending plans or tax policies. For example, we would redirect the billions of tax reliefs and incentives currently directed towards the North Sea oil and gas industry towards the sectors critical to creating the jobs which oil and gas workers will need as that industry comes to its conclusion.

In the 2023 to 2026 period alone these subsidies are worth around £18bn. We would also support UK pension funds to direct tens of billions of pounds of investments into the industries of the future, starting with the £16bn currently invested in high-risk fossil fuel assets.

The Scottish Greens have already delivered major reforms to Scotland’s income tax system, resulting in an additional £1.5bn for public services every year. Replicating our income tax rates and bands across the rest of the UK would raise more than £11bn. As recent data has shown, well funded public services and investment in key infrastructure is a pull factor. Scotland has recorded net positive inward migration from the rest of the UK since we delivered these reforms.

There are significant limits to focusing solely on taxing income however, so we would introduce a wealth tax on the top 1% of households, many of whose tax arrangements see them pay no income tax whatsoever. Details of this proposal will be published shortly, but we estimate that it would raise at least £70bn per year.

Jumpstarting our economy will require significant public investment of exactly the kind which has been lacking for decades. The Scottish Greens’ tax proposals ensure that these funds would be raised from those who can afford it, not from ordinary households and small businesses.

• What is your party's approach to North Sea oil and gas, and its transition to renewable energy?

The world’s top climate scientists could not be clearer, we must transition away from oil and gas far quicker than is currently the case. Scottish Greens energy policy is based on the latest climate science.

This should be the case for all parties, but sadly it is only the UK’s Green parties taking an evidence-led approach which safeguards our economy in the long term.

We would drop the anti-climate Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, revoke all recently issued licences for further oil and gas exploration and ban new licences for on or offshore oil, gas or coal extraction, and have the UK and Scottish Governments work together on an urgent decommissioning plan for existing North Sea oil and gas fields with the unions representing the offshore workforce, including specific actions to ensure a transition to secure jobs for those currently in the sector.

The renewable energy industry, from generation to manufacturing, supply chain and maintenance, offers the single greatest job creation opportunity for Scotland since the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s.

The Scottish Greens would further reform the on and offshore planning processes to bring renewable energy developments online quicker, invest in the energy storage capacity required to balance a 100% renewables grid, and critically, prioritise businesses based in Scotland through supply chain agreements to ensure that the benefits generated by this energy revolution are felt here in Scotland.

• And are there any plans to encourage entrepreneurship, inward investment or scale-up growth?

The Scottish Greens would tackle the risk-averse culture within the public sector which sees business support tend towards large corporations with ‘proven track records’ rather than small, independent businesses rooted in their local economies.

Launching a new business is a risk and some will fail. A better understanding of this within the public sector and less reluctance to direct support towards new, unproven businesses is required to create the more vibrant and diverse economy the Scottish Greens want to see.

We will reform public procurement processes to give smaller businesses a fairer opportunity to secure contracts for service provision.

And we will tackle the fragmented landscapes which exist for business support, skills, training and other areas which are key to supporting businesses. This will involve consolidating funding points, creating single points of contact within the public sector and other measures to simplify the process for businesses seeking support.

This support will be overwhelmingly directed towards SMEs, social enterprises, cooperatives and other business models which ensure maximum benefits for workers and local economies.

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