§ 3. Mr. Harry GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much public money per capita is spent on grants and all other public expenditures in Scotland; what is the percentage difference between these figures and those for Northern Ireland, Wales and England; and if he will make a statement. [773]
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe answer is £4,185, 12 per cent. less, 7 per cent. more and 21 per cent. more respectively. Scotland gets a good deal from the Union.
§ Mr. GreenwayDoes my right hon. Friend agree that it is remarkable that Scotland does so much better on public funding than England and Wales? Is it not naive of the Labour and Liberal parties to expect that high funding to continue, to expect to be allowed tax-lowering and tax-raising powers and to expect Englishmen and Welshmen to pay for that?
§ Mr. ForsythI agree with my hon. Friend—as the public expenditure round has been completed, it is safe for me to do so. I am not sure whether many people down here realise that Opposition Members are going around Scotland arguing that Members of a Westminster Parliament would vote for more money for a Scottish Parliament than they would vote for their own constituencies, and that a Scottish Parliament could use its powers under a tartan tax to lower taxation to less than in England. It is simply not credible, and it provides no basis on which to have a stable relationship within the Union. It is laughable in terms of its prospects, and it would be deeply damaging to Scotland's economic interests and public services.
§ Dr. GodmanWhat about the illegal acquisition of grants? Will the Secretary of State confirm that the £600,000 paid to Tate and Lyle in regional selective assistance grants was obtained illegally under European Union law? Was it a case of collusion by Scottish Office officials in these transactions, or—more probably—were they acting in a state of what might be called justifiable ignorance? What is the right hon. Gentleman doing to ensure that the money is repaid to the Treasury or, better still, given to Inverclyde district council, which will have to pick up the pieces?
§ Mr. ForsythIf the hon. Gentleman has a complaint to make about regional selective assistance and how it is paid, there is a proper way to make it: he should write to me, and I shall certainly look into any complaint. He will know that we have been able to provide substantial regional selective assistance, which is one of the reasons why 3,300 new jobs are being created in Lanarkshire and why two major job-creation prospects have emerged in Scotland in recent days. He will know that we can try to replace the jobs that, sadly, were lost at Tate and Lyle in Greenock by attracting more inward investment. I hope that he will distance himself from his party's adherence to a tartan tax, which would destroy jobs and scare away inward investment.
§ Mr. JenkinDoes my right hon. Friend recall Bob Boothby's maxim:
Without Scotland, England is sunk"?645 Will he take it from me that the extra money that English Members of Parliament commit to the Scottish economy is money extremely well spent and is a price well worth paying to maintain Scotland's prosperity within a single United Kingdom currency?
§ Mr. ForsythI agree. We are one United Kingdom, but Opposition Members wish to disturb that relationship—and in a way that would be to Scotland's disadvantage.