SCOTLAND would be tied to England’s growth rates under the SNP independence blueprint unless it embraced austerity and right-wing labour market reforms, former SNP MP George Kerevan charges today.

Writing in the new issue of Scottish Left Review, Mr Kerevan delivers a sharp critique of the SNP-commissioned Growth Commission report published in May.

The report was criticised on both sides of the independence debate for being too economically conservative in its recommendations.

Mr Kerevan writes: “Scottish productivity and growth rates would be tied to England’s unless — and this is key — we were to try to reduce wage costs directly through a combination of austerity and liberal market labour ‘reforms.’

“The latter would be rejected by the SNP rank and file and — to give Andrew Wilson his due — the Growth Commission report explicitly rejects austerity.”

The ex-MP said he was sceptical of the report’s proposal that population growth driven by immigration could boost growth because “a million existing Scottish jobs are threatened by developments in artificial intelligence.”

He continues: “In trying to be all things to all people, the commission has failed to offer a decisive plan for rebuilding a Scottish economy deflated by years of genuine Tory cuts and a City banking system that is nothing more than a giant casino.

“To win over working-class voters to Yes, we need to offer revolutionary economic change. That starts with creating a Scottish currency and socially responsible banking system.”

In the same issue, Scottish Socialist Party national spokesman Colin Fox says the report’s support for using sterling for a period after independence is “the most conservative option of all.”