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Rishi Sunak hails ‘strength of union’ ahead of Fife visit

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will visit Scotland on Thursday.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will visit Scotland on Thursday.

Rishi Sunak is the latest senior Conservative politician to make an appeal for the union, ahead of a visit to Scotland today.

The Chancellor hailed the economic “strength” of the union in advance of meeting businesses and individuals in Fife, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

However, the SNP said Mr Sunak should use his visit north of the border to “apologise to the people and businesses here for withdrawing furlough support and risking thousands of unnecessary redundancies”.

‘Strength of our union’

Speaking ahead of his visit, Mr Sunak said: “We’ve come through this pandemic as one United Kingdom – with our Plan for Jobs supporting one in three jobs and tens of thousands of businesses across Scotland.

“Thanks to the strength of our union we’ve deployed the fastest vaccination rollout in Europe and our economy is rebounding faster than expected.

“It’s vital this continues, and Scotland’s innovation and ingenuity will be key in creating jobs, powering our growth and driving a green recovery.”

Boris Johnson Scottish independence
Rishi Sunak has become the latest senior Scottish Conservative politician to make an appeal for the union.

Mr Sunak will travel to a number of businesses – both small and large – to meet business owners and furloughed employees who have returned to work after their jobs.

With just under 100 days until the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Mr Sunak will see how Scotland is harnessing the power of offshore wind, a sector which supports 2,800 jobs across the country.

‘Tory austerity’

Speaking ahead of Mr Sunak’s visit, the SNP’s Shadow Chancellor Alison Thewliss MP, said many sectors and businesses across the UK are still not operating at full capacity and “will need continued support to stay afloat”.

She added: “As for his boasts about the supposed strength of the UK, the reality is that the UK is the poorest country per head amongst its neighbours in North-west Europe, with countries similar in size or smaller than Scotland being the fairest and most prosperous.

“It is increasingly clear that the only way to keep Scotland safe from Tory austerity is to become an independent country with the full powers needed to protect jobs and secure a strong, fair and progressive recovery.”