NICOLA Sturgeon will miss the launch of the key report on Scotland’s public finances today, shortly before she appears on the Edinburgh Fringe.
The First Minister will not be at the traditional media briefing on the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) data for 2021/22.
Ms Sturgeon faced the press for the first four years of her premiership, then left it to her finance secretary in the pandemic.
She also missed the GERS event in 2019 to campaign in a Holyrood byelection in Shetland.
Today’s Q&A will be helmed by acting finance secretary John Swinney.
An hour later, Ms Sturgeon will be on the Fringe 1.5miles away for her third show this year.
Always controversial, GERS shows the notional deficit, share of North Sea revenue, and total public spending and the tax take in Scotland each year.
Last year's report showed Scotland’s notional deficit doubled to £36.3billion or 22.4 per cent of GDP because of the cost of responding to Covid and depressed tax revenues, while the UK deficit hit 14.2% of GDP.
The figures for 2021/22 are expected to show a substantial rebound in the economy, but the deficit is still likely to be seized on by Unionist parties to claim an independent Scotland would face brutal spending cuts and sharp tax hikes.
Tory MSP Liz Smith said: “The Covid pandemic has been the ultimate example of the strength and stability Scotland gains as part of the United Kingdom.
“Faced with an unprecedented economic and health crisis, the UK Government delivered a war chest of support for Scotland.
“However, we still have a long way to go. As we emerge from the pandemic into a global cost-of-living crisis, it is more important than ever that both of Scotland’s Government’s work together to support our recovery, as part of a strong United Kingdom.”
Green MSP Ross Greer said: “Huge damage is being inflicted on the Scottish economy by a Westminster government that simply doesn’t care about the consequences for ordinary people and which won’t give Scotland the powers we need to make different choices.
“Whether it's their reckless and ruinous Brexit, the runaway inflation and soaring prices we are seeing on supermarket shelves, or the skyrocketing energy bills that are plunging hundreds of thousands of families into poverty, the Tories have demonstrated yet again that the UK is governed in the interests of the rich and powerful, no-one else.
“Scotland has vast natural resources and no shortage of talent, but this is being squandered by an incompetent and cruel Tory government which has inflicted a cost-of-living crisis on millions of people, not just in Scotland but across the UK.
“It doesn’t need to be this way. With the powers of independence we can finally break from the failed economics of Westminster and do things differently.
“The Tories will wheel out the same tired warnings about GERS and independence, but these figures show the reality of a Scottish economy suffering from twelve years of their failures and mismanagement.”
Pamela Nash, chief executive of the anti-independence Scotland in Union group, said: “With Covid, the war in Ukraine, rampant inflation, and a looming recession, we know there is huge volatility in the economy.
“But what is beyond doubt is that being part of the UK involves the pooling and sharing of resources – both in the good times and the bad.
“This year, it’s time for some long-overdue honesty from the SNP about public service cuts and tax rises in a separate Scotland, and the impact of a new currency and a hard border with our neighbours.
“We are stronger together as part of the UK, ensuring that no community is left behind in these challenging times.”
A Government source said the FM had not done the GERS event "for a number of years", but it was regularly fronted by the Finance Secretary.
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