Scottish Economy Slowdown Blamed on Grangemouth Dispute

The acrimonious labor dispute at Ineos' Grangemouth chemical and refinery complex in October and November of last year is being blamed in part for the stagnation of the Scottish economy in the fourth quarter.

Scotland's economy grew by only 0.2% over the quarter, while the economy of the UK as a whole grew 0.7%.

As could be expected, protagonists on both sides of the Scottish independence debate - a referendum on splitting from the UK is scheduled for September 2014 - are interpreting the figures differently.

Scotland's first minister (prime minister) Alex Salmond of the pro-Scottish National Party, said the fact that the economy did show some growth despite the dispute showed its "underlying strength."

Even with the temporary shutdown at Grangemouth, 2013 saw "the fastest annual growth since 2007," Salmond said, adding that he expects the first quarter of 2014 to show "a further increase."

The UK's Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael said the figures highlight the "damaging impact" of the industrial dispute at Grangemouth. But Carmichael said "this danger was diminished, of course, by the fact that Scotland is an integral part of the UK economy and that we are currently contributing to the fastest growing economy in the G7."

One newspaper initially calculated that the Grangemouth showdown between labor and management had cost the Scottish economy £500-600 million. It later corrected the figure to £250 million and finally to £60-65 million.