The Chancellor has hailed the economic strength of the union ahead of a visit to Scotland.
Rishi Sunak will meet Scottish businesses and individuals in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Fife to discuss how they are recovering from the crisis, while learning about the ways Scottish firms are creating jobs and playing a key role in the UK’s green recovery.
Ahead of the visit, he hailed the economic strength of the union and said Scotland’s “innovation and ingenuity” would be key in powering the UK’s future global economy.
“We’ve come through this pandemic as one United Kingdom – with our Plan for Jobs supporting one in three jobs and tens of thousands of businesses across Scotland,” Sunak said.
“Thanks to the strength of our union we’ve deployed the fastest vaccination rollout in Europe and our economy is rebounding faster than expected.
“It’s vital this continues, and Scotland’s innovation and ingenuity will be key in creating jobs, powering our growth and driving a green recovery.”
In Scotland, one in three jobs have been supported through the pandemic, with more than 900,000 people furloughed, more than 90,000 businesses receiving loans and £1.53bn paid in self-employment support.
On today’s visit, the Chancellor will travel to a number of businesses to meet owners and furloughed employees who have returned to work after their jobs were protected through the UK-wide scheme.
With just under 100 days until the COP26 summit in Glasgow, he will also see how Scotland is harnessing the power of offshore wind – a sector which supports 2,800 jobs in Scotland – is key in helping the whole of the UK reach its climate goals.
Sunak will also meet representatives of Scotland’s financial services sector to thank them for keeping call centres and branches open over the pandemic, as well as distributing billions of pounds through UK Government loan schemes.
He will discuss his vision for the future of financial services – a sector which accounts for 153,000 jobs in Scotland.
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