The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) chair will use his first speech in Scotland to identify the nation’s “pivotal” role in setting the UK’s economic trajectory and delivering long-term sustainable growth.

Speaking in Edinburgh before an invited audience of more than 200 business and political leaders, Rupert Soames is due to state that a UK economy “with less than 1% growth is not thriving – it is merely surviving.”

In a speech later today, he will challenge all parties standing for election to prove their pro-growth credentials, with plans that can get the Scottish economy “firing on all cylinders.”

Soames will be speaking ahead of a business and economy focused hustings, with representatives from Scotland’s leading political parties, including Kate Forbes, Murdo Fraser, Daniel Johnson and Christine Jardine.

“I am convinced that this election, and how both Holyrood and Westminster work with business – and with each other – in the five years after the election, will determine whether or not our country and economy thrive for the next 20,“ Soames will comment.

“The exam question for all parties this election must be how to get that mojo back, how to create a new narrative for the UK and for Scotland, which can once again get our economy firing on all cylinders, and deliver the long-term, sustainable growth we urgently need.

“Instead of the sugar rush of short-term politics, businesses want to hear all parties speak to how they can work with business – and each other – to deliver in the long-term and in the national interest.”

Soames is due to argue that Scotland will have a pivotal role in how the UK’s economy returns to sustainable growth.

“We have heard time and again how Scotland will be decisive for this election, but business knows that its role will, if anything, be even greater afterwards.

“Scotland is an energy powerhouse, with natural resources that are the envy of the world, the best-educated workforce in the UK, the home of two green freeports to supercharge our exports.

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