“No way” Scots will privatise Scottish Water

Scotland’s Finance Minister John Swinney said today there is “no way” the Scottish Government will sell off Scottish Water. His comments come after the director of CBI Scotland Iain McMillan […]

Scotland’s Finance Minister John Swinney said today there is “no way” the Scottish Government will sell off Scottish Water.

His comments come after the director of CBI Scotland Iain McMillan reportedly called for the state-owned water company to be privatised.

Today CBI Scotland sent a report to Holyrood calling for a “bolder approach” to reducing the cost of goverment “to protect and enhance spending that galvanizes economic growth”.

Mr McMillan, director of the Scottish branch of the trade body reportedly said he wants the country’s water industry to be privatised because “the Scottish Government is having to spend money that they would not otherwise have to spend.”

However Mr Swinney told BBC Radio Scotland this morning: “There’s no way the Government will privatise Scottish Water. I think that is essentially the general and settled view of the people in Scotland that they want their water industry, which of course is an enormous economic asset to Scotland.”

Scotland’s largest trade union UNISON waded into the debate to condemn CBI Scotland’s stance.

Dave Watson, UNISON Scotland’s head of bargaining and campaigns said: “With their year in year out insistence on cutbacks and privatisation you do wonder who exactly CBI Scotland is representing here… Retail and manufacturing business members desperately need consumer spending, instead CBI Scotland argues for or a narrow group of privatising companies, desperate to rip off the taxpayer.”

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