SCOTLAND is “on the outside looking in” now that Theresa May is Prime Minister, the SNP claimed last night.
The comments came after May omitted Scottish Secretary David Mundell from a new taskforce aimed at boosting the economy.
The new Economy and Industrial Strategy Committee, which includes almost half of May’s Cabinet, features Chancellor Philip Hammond, Energy Secretary Greg Clark and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox.
Members will focus on addressing long-term productivity growth, encouraging innovation and supporting the industries and technologies that could give the UK an advantage over international competitors. However, it does not include representatives of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, May said the UK needed “a proper industrial strategy that focuses on improving productivity, rewarding hard-working people with higher wages and creating more opportunities for young people” regardless of their background.
She said: “We also need a plan to drive growth up and down the country, from rural areas to our great cities.”
However, SNP MSP Stewart Stevenson questioned why Mundell was not included, especially in light of continuing turmoil in the oil and gas sector, where redundancies and administrations have hit the North East particularly hard.
Stevenson said: “If David Mundell’s job as Scottish Secretary isn’t to be at the table when his colleagues are making decisions about UK-wide economic policy, then it’s not clear what his job actually is.”
He went on: “The Tories can’t even claim that the interests of Scotland’s vital oil and gas industries will be represented by the UK Energy Secretary – as they have downgraded that post.
“The Scottish Government has made supporting the oil and gas industry during the current period of uncertainty an absolute priority.
“The SNP will support any measures from the UK Government that will do likewise. But despite raised expectations after a change of government at Westminster, it is already starting to feel like Scotland is being left on the outside looking in.”
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