SCOTTISH Labour has launched a “blueprint” for growth to tackle what it calls the “cost-of-doing-business crisis” in Scotland.

The paper, branded “Building a Business Case for Scotland,” echoes Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s rhetorical focus on growth without any commitment to state spending.

The 17-page document refers to trade unions only twice to briefly thank them for “engagement” with its business-dominated Advisory Board for Economic Growth, launched last year by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar with the declaration that the party was now “unashamedly pro-business and pro-growth.”

Suggestions made in the paper include work to “simplify Scotland’s enterprise agency landscape,” to “embed technology across the economy,” and repeating Labour’s commitment to a state-owned GB energy company in Scotland.

Further aspirations include supporting “skills pathways” and career progression in green energy and the nation’s food-and-drink sector, and to “partner with business to maximise the opportunities that flow from financial services’ deep institutional links in Scotland and our geographic proximity to London.”

Writing in the paper’s foreword, Mr Sarwar said: “Scotland is brimming with potential.

“The current Scottish government has resorted to using income tax as a substitute for economic growth.

“This is choking off opportunity and hurting families and companies in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and a cost-of-doing-business crisis.

“In the Scottish Labour Party, we believe in growth, and we recognise that businesses have to be successful in order for them to create the jobs our country needs — and for us to build the strong economy our country needs.

“It is time to unleash the true economic potential of Scotland and its people.”