There is much for local people and business leaders in the north and north-east to celebrate among the details of this week’s autumn statement.
As the whisky industry breathed a sigh of relief after a further duty hike was scrapped, others cheered the news of many millions of pounds of funding.
Government money for Aberdeen’s new investment zone will be doubled to £160 million, while the Inverness and Cromarty Firth freeport will benefit from tax breaks in the same period. The already approved carbon capture scheme near Peterhead received further support from the chancellor. And the troubled Corran ferry between Nether Lochaber and Ardgour was awarded £20 million for improvements.
However, the fine print reveals that the newly allocated funds for the ferry link were originally promised for improving broadband, as part of the Inverness and Highland City Region Deal.
Connectivity of all kinds can prove problematic for people living in the Highlands and islands, and this decision may leave some asking why the Corran ferry takes priority over reliable internet access: a necessary part of life, these days.
Other elements of the chancellor’s statement are similarly likely to leave a bad taste for certain groups.
The oil and gas sector, for example, was disappointed by the decision to keep the windfall tax on fossil fuel firms in place. Just one day later, the news that Grangemouth’s oil refinery could close as soon as 2025, cutting at least 400 roles, increased concern among offshore bosses and workers. The precarity of the industry’s future is undeniable, yet the silence from government on the issue is deafening.
What about public services?
On an everyday level, Scots living in the midst of a brutal cost-of-living crisis are worried about job security, rising bills and potentially losing the vital public services they rely on.
The UK Government may have recently granted millions in Levelling Up money to Elgin, Western Isles and Argyll & Bute councils, but the Scottish Government and local authorities continue to warn that there is simply not enough cash available to keep the likes of libraries and swimming pools going. The budget and the blame, they say, ultimately lies with Westminster.
It goes without saying that stubbornly pointing fingers will solve very few problems. Nonetheless, while the Conservative government triumphantly heralded personal tax cuts for all on Wednesday, the Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that the UK is still headed for the biggest drop in living standards since the 1950s, when records began. It is a stark reminder that glittering big-picture promises rarely tell the full story.
The Voice of the North is The Press & Journal’s editorial stance on what we think are the most important issues of the week
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