15 Apr 2009
Tonight's dinner, hosted by the Prime Minister, with leaders of parties from the Scottish Parliament and the CBI and STUC will kick off an unprecedented 24 hours of engagement by the UK Cabinet in Scotland. Ministers will be out and about across the country - from James Purnell in Stornaway and Ed Miliband in North Ayrshire to Geoff Hoon and Peter Mandelson driving electric cars at Knockhill and David Miliband visiting Iraqi interpreters relocated to Glasgow.
Ministers will then meet up on Thursday lunchtime in Glasgow where there will be a public meeting involving Scots from all walks of life - from school pupils to businessmen and women. The audience has been selected to provide a representative cross-section of Scotland. Secretary of State for Scotland, Jim Murphy will welcome both the Cabinet to Scotland and the audience to the meeting. He will say:
"I am proud to be able to welcome the Cabinet to my home city of Glasgow. We have an extraordinary history as the industrial powerhouse, not just of Scotland but of the UK as a whole. In the past we built the world's ships and its locomotives. Today, I am pleased to say, we still build ships on the Clyde, and we have grown strength in modern industries from state of the art medical research to cutting edge creative industries."
Members of the Cabinet will host discussions with groups of guests, and the Prime Minister will move around the room meeting as many people as possible. The meeting will conclude with a question and answer session for the PM.
After the public meeting there will be an Economic Cabinet. This is the first Cabinet since the G20 and will be an important staging post before next week's Budget. Secretary of State Jim Murphy will make a presentation to the Cabinet on the economic prospects for Scotland. He will say:
"The last twelve years have been some of the best in Scotland's history. Sustained growth has cut unemployment below the UK average for the first time for decades. And employment levels in Scotland are the third highest in the European Union.
"Despite the global downturn, we should be confident about the future. Scotland has a strong economic base for growth in the key industries of: financial services, high-skill engineering, energy - from clean coal to tidal, tourism and quality food and drink. Just last month I saw for myself the appetite for Scottish goods and services in the growing Chinese market.
"The collapse of our banks last year was a blow. But the strength of the UK was great enough to rescue them - without the need for the crippling tax hikes, service cuts and soaring interest rates we have seen in Iceland and Ireland. The economic case for devolution is overwhelming now. The bail out of RBS and HBOS was £50bn in recapitalisation and £585bn in insuring toxic assets. To put that in context, that is £10,000 for every man, woman and child in Scotland to keep the banks afloat, and six times the annual value of the Scottish economy - to underwrite their assets. No-one can doubt that we are stronger together, weaker apart."