Pete Wishart
Main Page: Pete Wishart (Scottish National Party - Perth and North Perthshire)Department Debates - View all Pete Wishart's debates with the Scotland Office
(10 years, 5 months ago)
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Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire) (SNP)
4. What plans the Government have to review the Barnett formula.
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr Alistair Carmichael)
The Government have no plans to review the Barnett formula in this Parliament.
Pete Wishart
That is not quite what the Secretary of State said only a few weeks ago. Gary Robertson asked, “What about the Barnett formula? Will that change post-2014?” The Secretary of State said—because it was he—“Let me be absolutely clear, erm, erm, er, there will be no action taken on the Barnett formula, erm, erm, until the economy has erm, er, stabilised.” Help me Rona! Why is he not just straight with the Scottish people? We all know that the bosses and the paymasters of the no campaign—his Tory friends—want Barnett scrapped. Is that not the real cost to the people of Scotland—£4 billion?
Mr Carmichael
It is a classic of the genre—synthetic outrage at its very best. The hon. Gentleman knows that the Barnett formula is one reason the people of Scotland reject independence. That is why he is operating his own little “Project Smear” to pretend that it is somehow at risk. The position has been put beyond any doubt today by the Prime Minister in a letter to the First Minister. The hon. Gentleman should explain that and tell the people of Scotland that the best way to get rid of the Barnett formula is to vote for independence.