Westminster choices will fundamentally damage Scottish public services – Robison

Choices made by the UK Government will “fundamentally damage” the ability of the Scottish Government to deliver public services, the country’s Finance Secretary has said.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said in a major speech on Tuesday that the UK Budget slated for October 30 would be “painful” as he asked Britons to “accept short-term pain for long-term good”.

But during the recent General Election campaign, the SNP was one of the loudest voices warning of a black hole in UK public finances which would likely result in service cuts or tax rises, as a result of projections from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

“The Prime Minister’s speech this morning is a watershed moment in UK politics,” Ms Robison said in a statement after Sir Keir’s speech.

“Before Labour entered office, we and many others repeatedly warned that they were concealing the significant cuts they would have to make as a result of sticking to the Tory fiscal rules – and now, they are no longer able to hide from the reality.

“The political choices being made by the new UK Government will fundamentally damage our ability to deliver public services in Scotland.

“The SNP Government will do everything we can to protect the services and public from the Westminster attack on Scotland’s public spending.

“While clearly the legacy of the Tory Government, Labour must accept at least some of the culpability for the mess that the UK is now in.

“In opposition, they rowed in behind many of the Tory decisions that have damaged the economy and hurt living standards – whether that is Brexit, austerity spending cuts or attacks on the welfare state.”

The speech from the Prime Minister came on the same day that Scotland’s independent economic forecaster said the Scottish Government could struggle to balance its budget this year.

As a result of higher than expected public sector pay deals, the council tax freeze announced by former first minister Humza Yousaf and reforms to the social security system, ministers are “now facing a challenge in balancing its budget”, according to a report from the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC).

As well as the decisions made by the Scottish Government, uncertainty in the amount of funding coming north of the border from Westminster ahead of the Budget is also having an impact, the report said.

Scottish Labour finance spokesman Michael Marra said: “Once again the SNP is desperately trying to deflect attention from its disastrous record of financial and economic mismanagement in Scotland.

“While Labour is working to undo the economic and financial carnage left behind by the Tories, the SNP is causing more chaos here in Scotland.

“The SNP needs to drop the spin, stop making excuses for the Tories and focus on fixing its own mess.”