Tories to lead debate on ‘mismanagement’ of public finances

The Scottish Tories will lead a debate on Wednesday hitting out at the “economic mismanagement” of the Scottish Government.

The party will use its debating time as the Scottish Government looks to plug a near £5 billion black hole in its spending by the end of this decade.

Ministers have spent the past few months assessing how to raise revenue or cut spending, but Government strategy documents have yielded little detail, other than plans to cut the public sector workforce by an average of 0.5% per year by the end of the decade.

Speaking ahead of the debate, Scottish Tory economy spokesman Murdo Fraser said: “The SNP Government’s abysmal mismanagement of Scotland’s finances has resulted in a huge, black hole in welfare spending, unsustainable borrowing and a deficit twice the size of the rest of the UK.

“All this while Scots pay the highest income tax in the UK and see essential services crumbling.

“The Scottish Government’s own Gers (Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland) figures demonstrate that if the SNP achieved their goal of Scottish independence, it would have a catastrophic impact on the nation’s finances, resulting in a loss equivalent to almost £2,600 for every single person in the country.”

He added: “Shona Robison has been unable to say how she’ll make the £1 billion savings she admits are necessary.

“Meanwhile, Scotland’s economy is being held back by a hostile atmosphere for business, excessive regulation, high taxes and the economic lunacy of the Labour and SNP opposition to the North Sea oil and gas sector.”

The Tory MSP urged ministers to adopt his party’s savings plans in a bid to “cut taxes and wasteful public spending”.

Finance Secretary Shona Robison said: “Thanks to the actions of the SNP Government, people in Scotland benefit from a range of policies not available elsewhere in the UK – including free tuition, free prescriptions and the removal of peak rail fares – and the majority of income tax payers in Scotland pay less than south of the border.

“But we are still feeling the disastrous economic legacy of the last Tory government – which Keir Starmer has now doubled down on. Rather than trying to rewrite history, the Tories should be apologising to the people of Scotland.

“But whether Labour or Tory, the fact is that Scotland cannot afford to have vital decisions about our public finances made by Westminster governments any longer. We need the fresh start of independence.”