SNP MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar has responded to comments made yesterday by UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves during her brief visit to Scotland, where she claimed that “the SNP Government is as guilty as the Conservative government” for the budget cuts which the UK has imposed on Scotland.

This follows a recent statement by the Prime Minister where he said “things will get worse before they get better” and warned of “difficult” decisions to be taken in the Autumn budget.

In response, Alasdair Allan commented:

“For the Chancellor to attempt to rid herself and her government of any responsibility whatsoever for the austerity measures they are choosing to inflict on the entire UK – including Scotland - is utterly disingenuous.

“As she well knows, the Scottish Government does not have the borrowing powers of an independent country – we are only able to raise additional revenue via certain very limited tax powers, and have no say in how much of the money Scotland contributes into the UK Treasury each year gets returned to us to spend here.

“Forward planning, as a Scottish Government, is extremely challenging when you do not know how much money will be available from year to year. Often, even the money that is expected (such as the funding for the Winter Fuel Payment) is suddenly cut to the bone, and Scotland’s budget is down by hundreds of millions of pounds overnight.

“Households across the Western Isles will be far worse off this winter, directly as a result of the new UK Government’s decisions. Yes, the Tories mismanaged the economy, but throughout the general election campaign, the SNP warned of the austerity measures Labour would be implementing, which they repeatedly denied. Politics is about priorities, and the UK Labour Government are now demonstrating how quickly they will break election promises made in Scotland.”