Scotland’s First Minister pushed Sir Keir Starmer for more public investment in his government’s budget at the end of the month during a meeting in Edinburgh.
The two met privately on Friday ahead of the inaugural Council of the Nations and Regions – a body designed to reset relationships between the UK Government, devolved administrations and metro mayors.
Speaking after the summit, John Swinney said he had a “helpful conversation with the Prime Minister about the “important issues that affect Scotland”.
“This has been a welcome opportunity to raise significant issues that affect the prospects of Scotland, and central to that is the outcome of the budget, where we need to see investment in our public services and in our infrastructure to stimulate the growth that all of us want to see delivered within the economy,” he told broadcasters.
“It’s very much at the heart of the Prime Minister’s agenda, it’s very much at the heart of my agenda, and I want to make sure that we’ve got the right investment in our economy, which is an essential product of the budget at the end of October.”
In recent months, Mr Swinney has repeatedly attacked Sir Keir’s government over what he described as “austerity” in recent spending decisions, including the decision to means test the winter fuel payment, but he struck a more conciliatory tone following Friday’s meeting.
The SNP at Westminster has called for a £16 billion increase to the NHS budget, which would provide £1.6 billion to Scotland through the Barnett formula.
Asked if he raised the issue of independence with the Prime Minister, Swinney said the meeting focused on growth and the economy.
He said: “I was setting out today the issues that we’re focused on in relation to growth in the Scottish economy.
“Those are the issues that we were talking about.
“The point that I was making to the Prime Minister was that we won’t get growth in the economy if we don’t invest in our public services and our public infrastructure.
“If we have any continuation of austerity then we will be damaging the prospects for growth in the economy which is at the very heart of the discussion we’ve been having today.
“We’ll continue to press the UK Government to bring to an end the austerity that has been so damaging to the fabric of our country and to secure investment for the future.”
The First Minister also pushed Sir Keir on a carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) facility in Aberdeenshire, which has again been overlooked by the UK Government for funding.
The Acorn project was given reserve status under the previous UK government and missed out on a share of £22 billion which went to two similar facilities in the north of England.
“I’ve set out to the Prime Minister the critical nature of investment in CCUS within Scotland, and we’ve got a superb project that merits investment,” he said.
The issues he raised, the First Minister said, were “taken seriously” by Sir Keir during their meeting.
The Prime Minister said after the meeting: “Today was very much a statement of intent with the Council of the Nations and Regions and the First Minister of Scotland and I have been in meetings for the best part of three hours today.
“I said I wanted to reset the relationship, I wanted to collaborate so that my Government could deliver for Scotland.
“That’s why I’ve had a very good discussion today about how we can work more closely together, about carbon capture, about energy, about strategies for growth, and it’s been a very constructive exercise.
“I’m really pleased that we’re able to take these things forward.”
The Prime Minister said he was “committed” to investing in Scotland, including through the state-owned Great British Energy, which will be headquartered in Aberdeen.
“That’s what matters to me more than anything else,” he added, “whether people living in Scotland can see a better future, a brighter future.
“A future where there’s investment coming into where they live and where they work so their living standards can go up and they can be secure in the jobs that they have, the jobs for their children and their children’s children.
“That’s why I’m so pleased about the investment decisions that have been announced.”
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