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Scotland's size 'an advantage'

 

Scotland's small and relatively less diverse population has allowed the Scottish Government to "badger and lean on" other people to get the outcome that it needs, according to the Finance Secretary.

John Swinney has also said the Edinburgh Agreement will allow the SNP to get its way in the referendum, strengthens its negotiating position after the referendum, and renders suggestions that Scotland will not be able to use the pound "totally redundant".

He has also called for pay restraint for top executives, and a more balanced economy to tackle financial sector "blackmail".

"There are many things that you can make happen because of the size of country in which we are living," Mr Swinney told a fringe meeting at the SNP autumn conference in Perth.

"A number of my UK counterparts bemoan to me the fact that if we face a problem in Scotland, or if we are working to deliver a solution, or if we are trying to take forward a policy objective, I can literally, in an afternoon, get together in one room all of the people I need to make that happen and to coax, badger and sometimes lean on to get the outcome that we need.

"My UK counterparts tell me, 'we can't do that; it's too difficult for us; the country is too big; it's too diverse; it's too diffuse; there are too many competing interests'. But in Scotland we have the ability to do that."

The Scottish Government has ensured every local authority in Scotland maintains the council tax freeze by offering less money in the local government settlement to those who may seek to raise the tax.

While some Holyrood opponents such as the Liberal Democrats complain that the SNP-administration is too "centralising", others have called for single outcome agreements to be used in other areas such as Labour's campaign for consistent support for kinship carers.

Mr Swinney also said the Edinburgh Agreement signed by Prime Minister David Cameron last week means the referendum "can be constructed here in Scotland by our democratically elected Scottish Parliament", where the SNP enjoys and overwhelming majority.

He said the agreement renders suggestions that Scotland would not be able to continue with Sterling "totally redundant".

 
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