Greens: Shared prosperity fund reveals Brexit true cost
The UK Government’s ‘shared prosperity fund’ is a misnomer which reveals the true cost of Brexit, the Scottish Greens have said.
Less than half the worth of previous EU Structural Funds is being allocated by the UK Government in Scotland, which the Government is branding ‘levelling up’ funding and which bypasses devolved decision-making.
Speaking ahead of a debate in the Scottish Parliament on the fund, Scottish Greens economy spokesperson Maggie Chapman said: “The Tories never have and never will show any desire to ‘share prosperity’ and we’ve seen over the pandemic they are more interested in directing public money to their friends then tackling poverty and redistributing wealth across the country.
“To rebrand a phenomenal cut to Scotland’s infrastructure spend because of their ideological Brexit in this way is a sick joke. What’s worse, the Tories are deliberately undermining democracy by spending this money in areas that should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament. Given so much of it will be on road expansions, it seriously undermines our efforts to prevent climate catastrophe too.
“If the UK Government thinks that imposing their own priorities on Scotland by covering it in tarmac will save the union, they are sorely mistaken. Scotland must and will decide our own priorities and build an economy that works for everyone, and it looks increasingly clear that will need to be as an independent country.”