SCOTLAND’S engineering prowess is the latest to be recorded as being under threat from a skills shortage that is permeating sector after sector across the UK.

Labour pressures for many are at crisis point, including areas that are central to getting the economy going and keeping it moving.

Hospitality is one of the worst hit, unable to recruit workers from Europe, and calling for a fairer visa system.

Aviation is in a similar position, and being told by the UK Government the reason is the industry can’t manage logistics.

Paul Sheerin, chief executive of Scottish Engineering, said that, “in terms of business threats, pole position is once again held by skills, regularly cited as the economic speed limiter that sets the maximum output for a business”.

The Herald: Paul Sheerin, of Scottish Engineering, warned on recruitment in the sector.Paul Sheerin, of Scottish Engineering, warned on recruitment in the sector.

Policies that can nurture an adequate flow of labour, such as those related to immigration, make up the backbone of our fiscal society.

So the frustration among policymakers having difficulty obtaining accurate information from the UK Government to shape where we place the focus in future is understandable, especially when we know all is not well.

Chris Bryant, Rhondda Labour MP and chairman of the Committee on Standards and Privileges, who said he would recuse himself from consideration of the investigation into whether Prime Minister Boris Johnson intentionally misled the House of Commons, raised concerns in a BBC interview this week.

The Herald: Mr Bryant said Mr Johnson's failure to correct the record was 'problematic'Mr Bryant said Mr Johnson's failure to correct the record was 'problematic'

“I’m not sure if it counts as comedy or not,” said Mr Bryant, “But one of the most strange moments was when he [Mr Johnson] was asked by my colleague Stephen Timms why he had not yet corrected the record when the statistics authority told him he had been using false statistics, ie lying, about the employment statistics.

“Boris Johnson said he had corrected the record, and it turns out that that too was a lie, so not only has he not corrected the record, but he has not corrected the record about not correcting the record. This is where it becomes problematic.”

READ MORE: Johnson quizzed on fresh claims of ‘misleading’ Parliament

That Downing Street would suggest those who dropped from employment statistics during the pandemic, said to be mostly people nearing retirement, will take up all the vacant roles across the aviation, engineering and hospitality sectors, for example, might give an idea why we need to be open about policy to help keep the economy moving forward.

What the Scottish Government is clearly getting right amid the clamour from Scotland’s detractors was the focus of business editor Ian McConnell in his Called to Account column this week.

“It seems these days the doomsayers are keener than ever to talk down the Scottish economy at every opportunity,” he writes.

The impact of more Scottish firms losing their independence was put under the spotlight by deputy business editor Scott Wright, who says “looking at it from the perspective of corporate Scotland, the prospect of four of the country’s biggest companies losing their independence can be seen as a blow”, adding: “The timing is problematic, too, with the Scottish economy reeling from the aftershocks of the pandemic and in the grip of the biggest inflationary crisis for four decades.”

Also this week, Scottish entrepreneur Robert Kilgour secured £30 million from an unnamed investor to nearly double the size of his Renaissance care home chain, writes Kristy Dorsey.