A SCOTTISH Labour MSP called critics of a controversial set of financial figures about the country’s economy “sad little men in their bedrooms”.
The comment came during a Holyrood debate on the wellbeing economy – an ideal to which the Scottish Government is committed.
Labour’s Michael Marra accused the SNP of exploiting the concept – which aims to put the needs of people and the planet before economic growth – as a “branding exercise”.
He claimed the independence movement was determined to “deny difficult numbers” and said he “struggled to believe” the new economic strategy would be “any more coherent and delivered than any of the previous attempts from this government”.
And Marra also took aim at the SNP for their opposition to the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures – which he claimed showed the country benefited “to the tune of £10 billion per year” on average through being in the UK.
He said arguing with the figures had grown out of “the dark corners of the internet” to become a “rite of passage” for senior figures within the SNP.
Responding to the row, tax expert Professor Richard Murphy, of Sheffield University, said if Labour did not think better data was needed on Scotland’s economy the party was “not fit for office”.
Marra said: “This is a political movement and a government that exists to deny difficult numbers and we’ve heard a little bit of that already.”
He added: “When the government’s official national statistic office kitemarked figures showed that we benefit to the tune of the average of £10 billion per year in fiscal transfer within the UK, the SNP decided that those figures had to be trashed.
“And it started in the dark corners of the internet with sad little men in their bedrooms but eventually it’s become a rite of passage for leadership contenders within the SNP to have to do exactly that in meetings with party members across the country, savaging GERS figures.
“GERS deniers [...] every single one of them.”
Prof. Murphy described Marra’s comments as sad and said GERS did not reflect the reality of Scotland’s economic health.
He told The National: “It’s fairly sad for a politician to criticise those economists and others who want to improve the quality of information on which the future of Scotland will be decided as ‘sad little men’.
“The reality is we need better data in Scotland and if Labour doesn’t understand that, then it is not ready for office, either in Holyrood or in Westminster.”
Prof. Murphy said GERS statistics did not show the true picture on a number of key economic indicators including the income of the state, its tax take or deficit.
He added: “If [Marra] doesn’t know the answers to those questions, how on earth can he expect a Labour administration in Scotland to manage its economy properly?
“If he really thinks we don’t need that data, then I’m afraid to say he is just not prepared for office because the whole problem that we have in the Scottish Government from Kate Forbes, when she was finance minister to [current Finance Secretary] Shona Robison to manage the economy either because they don’t know the true financial position of Scotland.
“GERS does not show it. It actually says it doesn’t show the true financial position of Scotland at present because it isn’t about Scotland it’s about expenditure by Westminster for Scotland.”
Marra went on to accuse the SNP of opportunism with their proposals for a wellbeing economy and of having rediscovered a desire for economic growth – which he claimed they ditched to secure the Greens’ support in forming a government.
He said: "It's an idea that was wilfully expunged from this government's previous policy agenda in their partnership with the Greens.
"So I would say to the Cabinet Secretary today, if the Government really wishes to trade in economic concepts such as a wellbeing economy [...] then they have to be able to explain where the ecological and social limits of growth are - that's what a wellbeing economy is.
"And there is no evidence in any of the muddled thinking that's been presented [...] that they are engaging in anything more than a willful abuse of that concept, frankly as a branding exercise."
Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray suggested Marra was failing to engage with the substance of the debate.
The SNP’s hostility to GERS figures stems from their creation of a “deficit” for the Scottish Government – which can only run a marginal deficit, given its extremely limited borrowing powers.
Many in the independence movement distrust the publication because it is used by Unionist parties to claim an independent Scotland would begin life with a substantial deficit at around 7% of GDP.
Yessers say this does not necessarily reflect the reality of the spending or tax policies of a future independent Scottish state.
