BJ is no FDR says STUC

June 30th 2020

BJ is no FDR says STUC

June 30th 2020

“New Deal” is not the real deal. Capital investment plan is woefully inadequate to tackle economic downturn. Calls for a plan at least twenty times more ambitious than was announced today The STUC has criticised the UK Government’s infrastructure plans and derided his self-comparison to Franklin D Roosevelt.

It pointed out that many of the projects announced were plans brought forward rather than new investment and said the Government would need 20 times the ambition if it is serious about protecting jobs and rebuilding the economy sustainably. It said that the £70 billion UK-wide investment advocated by the Scottish Government was closer to the level required.

• Boris Johnson's £5bn “New Deal” represents just 0.2% of UK GDP.

• F.D. Roosevelt's New Deal accounted for 40% of US GDP.

• Germany has announced stimulus of 4% of GDP.

• The £5bn “New Deal” represents half the amount of a tax cut for high earners last year.

STUC General Secretary Rozanne Foyer says:

“The most obvious conclusion from today’s investment announcements is that BJ is no FDR. His speech lacked coherence and so does his plan. His greatest passion seemed to be reserved for cutting red tape which is all too often code for cutting the rights of workers and reducing environmental standards. He certainly didn’t talk about good jobs and we know from this crisis that bad jobs kill.

“This goes nowhere near far enough to provide the stimulus our economy requires. We need twenty times the ambition. For example, our analysis shows the potential for a two year £13 billion green stimulus package to create 140,000 jobs in Scotland.

“All eyes now turn to the Chancellor later this month. He must act urgently to bring forward a Job Guarantee Scheme, extend the Furlough scheme in key sectors and do what Johnson failed to do today – come up with a real new deal for recovery.”

ENDS

For further details

Dave Moxham 07891026870

Note

STUC research shows that 140,000 good jobs could be created in Scotland with £13 billion investment over two years while making a significant contribution to tackling climate change. Upwards of 50,000 jobs could be created in building retrofit, 40,000 in transport and 20,000 in manufacturing and offshore wind infrastructure. The boost to the economy and the longer-term supply chain benefits in Scotland would be enormous. Similar programmes across the UK would create over 1.2 million jobs.

Clean infrastructure report http://www.stuc.org.uk/files/Scotland_Report.pdf