Scotland is being left behind in its response to the economic crisis, Labour leader Iain Gray claimed today.
Scotland is being left behind in its response to the economic crisis, Labour leader Iain Gray claimed today.
Mr Gray accused Holyrood ministers of being "paralysed" in their response to the slow-down.
And he claimed uncertainty over the Scottish Futures Trust - the Scottish Government's alternative to PPP and PFI funding - was making the situation worse.
With unemployment rising, house sales falling sharply and property prices also decreasing, the SNP administration has put forward a six-point action plan aimed at boosting the struggling economy.
But Mr Gray claimed the response in Scotland fell short of action being taken by ministers south of the border.
Labour came up with its own 15-point plan to help the economy, which calls for priority to be given to job creation and skills.
Mr Gray said the plan set out "the kind of action that the Scottish Government can take" to boost the economy.
While he accepted a lot of the "big decisions" had to be taken by Westminster, Mr Gray said: "There are very, very significant things which lie within the remit of the Scottish Government."
He went on: "We produced a 15-point plan, which covered the acceleration of infrastructure investment, including specific projects, it covered investment in skills and training, which we need if people are going to lose their jobs and be looking for new jobs and it covered additional support for advice services and help for those who are facing problems with debt and potential repossession on mortgages.
"In all of those areas Labour in Westminster have now acted and in England there's very significant action going forward in all of those areas. In Scotland there is action in none of these areas."
Mr Gray said: "If you look at something like acceleration of infrastructure investment, which the construction industry are turning up at this Parliament at committees day after day crying our for - talking about 20,000 jobs already gone and 100,000 at risk - if you look at that you'll see in England they've accelerated investment in 1,500 primary schools, 600 GP surgeries and miles and miles of motorway.
"And here we still don't know what they're going to invest in and the reason for that is they've got this method of investing in capital infrastructure, the Futures Trust, which doesn't work.
"As a result they're paralysed in taking the action Scotland is crying out for and Scotland's going to be left behind."
But an aide to finance secretary John Swinney dismissed Mr Gray's remarks as "ill-advised and ill-informed".
He said: "They are actually an attack on Scotland and our potential as a nation, and Labour's unremitting negativity will be extremely badly received by families and businesses across Scotland."
The aide insisted that the SNP administration was already delivering the things Labour called for in its 15-point plan.
He said: "We have accelerated capital investment, doubled the Manufacturing Advisory Service, and put in place protection for homeowners far in advance of anything that exists south of the border."
He hit back at Labour: "The reality is that Gordon Brown and the UK Labour Government presided over the 'age of irresponsibility' which caused the economic downturn in the first place, and the SNP Government are doing everything within our powers to support families and business.
"That is why unemployment in Scotland is significantly lower than the UK average, and employment and economic activity are higher."
The aide highlighted cuts in business rates for small firms and the council tax freeze as some of the actions the SNP had taken.
And he added: "We are also ahead of anything the UK government was doing in accelerating £100 million investment in affordable housing, and we are bringing forward £260 million of capital spending over this year and next, supporting 4,000 Scottish jobs and complementing our already substantial capital investment programme.
"We are also ensuring that people have the skills they need to develop, and contribute to Scotland's economic future."
