Scotland should be braced for 'real cuts'
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore has warned MSPs of tough times ahead, during a visit to Holyrood.
Mr Moore (left), with party leader Nick Clegg (right) and former leader and North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell.
- By Steve Bargeton, political editor
- Published in the Courier : 18.06.10
- Published online : 18.06.10 @ 12.59pm
In line with the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition government's "respect" agenda for Scotland, Mr Moore was briefing MSPs on aspects of proposed legislation contained in the Queen's Speech.
For an hour he was grilled by the conveners of Holyrood's committees.
In an opening statement, he made it clear that the UK government's plan to tackle the deficit will mean difficult decisions that will affect Scotland.
"You are going to be dealing with real cuts over the next few years," he said.
"It is going to be tough — it is going to be very tough for everyone."
Although he answered questions as frankly as he could, Mr Moore explained that he could prejudge the decision to be announced next week in the emergency Budget ahead of the comprehensive spending review in the autumn.
Inevitably, the bulk of questions related to plans to give more powers to the Scottish Parliament contained in the Calman Commission report on the future of devolution.
"There are lots of big questions there," said Mr Moore.
"I am excited about the fact that we have the opportunity to take devolution to a new level."
The Scottish Secretary told MSPs that a Bill on more powers for Scotland will be ready by the autumn and its implementation will be rolled out over the next five years.
He also ruled out any change to the Barnett Formula that determines the level of Scottish spending.
Mr Moore would give no guarantees that he, as Scotland's representative in the UK cabinet, could prevent spending cuts in Scotland.
"Decisions will be tough across the whole of the UK," he said in answer to a question from Angus MSP Andrew Welsh.
However, he hinted strongly that Scotland could be in line for £180m fossil fuel levy payment, a matter raised by First Minister Alex Salmond in talks with Prime Minister David Cameron.
Mr Moore told MSPs he wanted to leave them with the "good, strong impression" that the UK government is "actively engaged" on the issue.
SNP chief whip Brian Adam said, "It was clear from this session that Scotland is in line for severe budget cuts as a result of the economic mess left by the previous Labour Government.
"On economic issues it was crystal clear that we will face unprecedented challenges from these cutbacks to deal with the debt built up by Labour."
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user Ming Campbell.
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