{"id":136902,"date":"2025-09-14T14:47:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T14:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/136902\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T14:47:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T14:47:13","slug":"there-is-real-optimism-out-there-in-our-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/136902\/","title":{"rendered":"There is real optimism out there in our businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Opposition parties strike an almost relentlessly negative tone, particularly when it comes to debates about independence<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n For them, Scotland is too wee, too poor, and too stupid to go it alone. They can\u2019t bring themselves to envision a future where we join other, small independent nations in realising our full potential.\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE: Keir Starmer ‘not up to the job’, says Labour MP<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n While it\u2019s important to recognise the challenges we face \u2013 Scotland is weathering the economic disruption caused by the pandemic, a Tory Brexit<\/a>, and stiff tariffs imposed by a Trump<\/a> White House \u2013 there is cause for optimism.\n<\/p>\n

\n A report from NatWest<\/a> confirmed that Scotland had one of the highest rates of start-ups in the UK in the first few months of this year. A few weeks before that, our labour market statistics were among the best in the UK.\n<\/p>\n

\n And in June, KPMG\u2019s chief economist said: \u201cScotland\u2019s economy<\/a> is well placed to strengthen in the month ahead and, if conditions improve as we expect, could have a modest edge over the UK as a whole in 2026.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The message I\u2019ve heard from business<\/a> leaders and pundits I\u2019ve met in recent months, including entrepreneurs, tech developers, and key players in the energy sector, is one of hope and optimism.\n<\/p>\n

\n This is a message we need to grasp with both hands if we want to spur greater ambition and successes in the months ahead.\n<\/p>\n

\n Economic flourishing will lift our nation, reduce child poverty, and help to fuel a just transition. It will also furnish the case for independence, giving those who remain sceptical the confidence they need to join our cause and vote to put Scotland\u2019s future fully in Scotland\u2019s hands.\n<\/p>\n

\n In August, it emerged that Scottish businesses, supported by Scottish Enterprise, have delivered their highest ever level of planned international exports<\/a> \u2013 \u00a32.46 billion during the year to March. That\u2019s a 20% rise on the figure for the 2023-24 financial year.\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE: Scottish MP suspended by Starmer criticises Peter Mandelson retaining Labour whip<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n Scotland is a trading nation. We have a long and rich history of producing goods and services that are highly regarded and sought after across the world.\n<\/p>\n

\n This is clearly the time to capitalise on our export potential and that is exactly what the Scottish Government<\/a> is doing through its Six Point Export Plan, announced in the most recent Programme for Government<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n This strategy involves increasing business support to exporters, upping our investment in sector export plans, and widening the scope of our International Trade Partnership programme.\n<\/p>\n

\n We are expanding the number of inward trade missions we deliver, showcasing Scotland\u2019s export strength to international buyers, and outward trade missions, to expose even more Scottish companies to new and emerging international markets. Finally, we\u2019re actioning an export plan for the US, allowing us to focus on areas that present Scottish companies with the greatest opportunities.\n<\/p>\n

\n When the First Minister<\/a> met the US president in the summer, he reiterated the Scottish Government<\/a>\u2019s desire to finalise the remaining elements of the UK-US trade deal, to provide long-term certainty and stability to our transatlantic trading partnership.\n<\/p>\n

\n And this week, during a visit to the Oval Office, he put issues such as Scotch whisky<\/a> on the trade deal agenda once again.\n<\/p>\n

\n (Image: Daniel Torok)\n<\/p>\n

\n A 10% tariff on whisky is costing the industry around \u00a34 million a week in lost exports, harming investment, employment, and growth \u2013 most acutely in my own home patch of the Scottish Highlands<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n Thanks to pressure from the First Minister, there\u2019s a real chance of a special trade deal to remove this burden.\n<\/p>\n

\n I\u2019m confident that Scotland and our exporters have the capacity, potential and ambition to continue to take advantage of shifting opportunities within international trade \u2013 both now and in the years ahead.\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE: ‘Do better’: Fury after BBC found out over Reform coverage<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n The additional support we are providing is a key enabler to this. It will give our dynamic businesses the stimulus they need to go forward.\n<\/p>\n

\n By contrast, successive Westminster<\/a> governments have presided over economic decline, falling living standards, and chronic under-investment. The current Labour Government<\/a> is offering no alternative or credible vision for long-term growth.\n<\/p>\n

\n Scotland deserves the choice to chart a better course \u2013 one that reflects our values, our priorities, and our potential.\n<\/p>\n

\n The economic case for independence has never been stronger, and the political case for the right to choose has never been more urgent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opposition parties strike an almost relentlessly negative tone, particularly when it comes to debates about independence. For them,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,1294,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-136902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}