Views
Britain in recession - for The Inverness Courier
IT'S official – what we have all known for some time was confirmed by official statistics on Friday, Britain is in recession. After six months of the economy getting smaller, the independent forecasters seem now to believe that the recession will continue for the rest of 2009.
The government's botched insurance scheme for banks, announced a week ago led to a further loss of confidence with bank shares falling dramatically and the pound losing more value against the euro and the dollar. As Nick Clegg said in the House of Commons, we will have to nationalise – temporarily – our weakest banks.
A blizzard of small announcements by the government have disguised the fact that ministers are increasingly behind the curve. Piecemeal action has failed to stem the tide of economic bad news. Bold steps are needed to tackle the economic crisis.
Last week, I met an impressive group of 50 businesswomen at the Highland Businesswomen's Club in Inverness. Their experiences reinforced my views about what the government should do next, but were also a welcome antidote to the unremitting bad news in the national media. It was heartening to hear so many positive stories among the worries and concerns.
In the Highlands, so far, the impact of the recession has varied in different economic sectors. The construction and housing sectors have been hit very hard, some retailers have been having difficulty, and I heard several worrying stories from local businesswomen about problems being caused for viable businesses by the behaviour of banks.
It is simply outrageous that banks that are now largely owned by taxpayers seem to think it is reasonable to remove lending facilities or substantially increase their costs for businesses that are perfectly viable otherwise. The behaviour of banks will cause unnecessary job losses in the local economy – one reason why full nationalisation must now be on the agenda.
Of course, local factors also affect the success or otherwise of local firms. Investment in the transport infrastructure is repeatedly highlighted by local firms. The Scottish government's failure to support the Inverness bypass causes real frustration, as does the lack of timetable or budget for other projects in the Highlands.
We need to keep up pressure against other unfair costs imposed on the Highlands. Too many mail order and delivery companies seem to think it is still appropriate to impose a substantial surcharge to deliver to the Highland capital. That is unacceptable, and I will keep up the campaign against them in Parliament.
It seems to me that the best thing the government could now do would be to substantially rebalance the tax system.
There are many people who have accumulated large amounts of wealth in the boom years who could afford to pay more tax. That money would then allow big, permanent and fair tax cuts for people on low and middle incomes. Not only does our tax system need to be fairer, but by putting more money into the pockets of most ordinary people it would help people deal with financial pressure, and help the businesses where they spend some of that money too.
SAVE OUR FORESTS
I grew up in Glengarry, west of Invergarry in Lochaber.
That is one example of the many small rural communities across the Highlands where the employment provided by the Forestry Commission is essential. That work supported families living in the area – whereas the neighbouring private forestry did not.
The Scottish Government's plans to lease 25% of Scotland's forests to private investors would put jobs at risk. The time has long past when people regarded our national forests simply as sources of cash. The Forestry Commission now does vital work creating paths and mountain bike tracks and supporting environmental improvements. The paths and bike tracks are popular with local people and tourists alike. I am campaigning against this – if you want to support that campaign please sign the online petition at www.scotlibdems.org.uk/saveourforests.
Posted on: 27/01/2009
