Sunak hails Scotland’s ‘important’ role in Covid recovery

Scotland will play an important part in the UK’s economic recovery from Covid-19, the Chancellor has insisted.

Rishi Sunak said he had plans to “rebuild the economy of Scotland and the whole of the UK” as the country seeks to “recover from the devastating impact of coronavirus”.

He told how the UK Government had delivered some £13.3bn of cash to the Scottish Government since the pandemic began a year ago.

And he said his Budget, announced earlier this month, would help “support the United Kingdom’s recovery”.

Mr Sunak, speaking at the Scottish Conservative conference, insisted that was a “recovery which Scotland will play an important part in”.

He told how the UK Government was “investing £34m into the North East economy, to support the transition to green technology and make Aberdeen the world leader in subsea engineering”.

The Chancellor also highlighted Westminster’s freezing of alcohol duties, saying this was “benefitting your national drink, Scotch whisky, and the 11,000 jobs it supports”.

Sunak also said the Conservative government was accelerating growth deals in Ayrshire, Argyll and Bute and Falkirk, and was freezing fuel duty for the 11th year in a row, “saving the average Scottish driver £1,600”.

The Chancellor pledged: “This is just the start of my plan to rebuild the economy of Scotland and the whole of the United Kingdom.

“We recover from coronavirus and we will level up and spread opportunity to every part of our country.”