Reeves has done ‘fantastic job’ as Chancellor, says Murray

Rachel Reeves has done a “fantastic job” as Chancellor, the Scottish Secretary has said, amid opposition concerns about her handling of the economy.

The Chancellor has been dealing with a period of turbulence in the UK financial markets, as the value of the pound dropped sharply and the cost of Government borrowing rose to decades-high levels.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Ms Reeves of “driving the economy into the ground”.

But on Wednesday, Ian Murray backed the Chancellor and praised her for “stabilising the economy”.

He welcomed new figures showing UK inflation dipped last month, as financial markets began to calm following a period of volatility.

The Scottish Secretary said: “I think the Chancellor has done a fantastic job of stabilising the economy.

“She’s had to make the tough decisions. She couldn’t shirk away, she couldn’t wish them away, as others have tried to do, because they were in front of her.

“The really positive thing from a Scottish perspective is that when the Chancellor got to her feet on October 30 to deliver the Budget, she started with minus £22 billion and then she delivered the biggest budget settlement in Scottish parliamentary history.”

Mr Murray spoke to reporters at the Scottish Parliament following an appearance at the Economy and Fair Work Committee to discuss the City Region and Growth Deal programme.

The £3 billion scheme, funded by the Scottish and UK governments, delivers planning and infrastructure projects to boost local economies.

The Scottish Secretary – the first UK minister to appear before MSPs since the general election – told the committee his Government had inherited a Scottish “industrial crisis”.

He said: “If you look across the board, whether it be Grangemouth, North Sea oil and gas, Mitsubishi Electric, Alexander Dennis, Harland & Wolff – the number of industrial problems that have arisen over the last six months or so have been considerable in a Scottish context.

“I hope the growth deals play a part in being able to resolve some of those particular issues, but it’s clear we have to deal with both an economic crisis, a crisis in public finances and also an industrial crisis in the Scottish context.”

Mr Murray described the closure of Grangemouth – Scotland’s last oil refinery – as a “tragedy”.

He told MSPs: “The refinery closing is no doubt the worst possible news.

“It’s a travesty that it’s closing and I just wish we had more time.”

Petroineos will close the plant this year, with around 400 people set to lose their job. Around 100 will be kept on as it transitions to a fuel import terminal.

Mr Murray pointed to the £100 million Project Willow – funded by the UK and Scottish governments – which will look at a long-term future for the site in a bid to protect jobs in the area, many of which rely on the refinery.

But the Scottish Secretary said while the feasibility study is “the way forward”, it is neither a “silver bullet” nor a “panacea”.

He added: “We shouldn’t be building up the hopes, particularly of the workforce and local community.

“But actually [Project Willow] will lay out what the future could look like, and it’s up to us now to try and deliver on some of that.”