Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is trying to be “the new Hammer of Scots”, by making cuts to public services, the SNP economy spokesperson has said.
SNP MP Drew Hendry made the reference comparing Mr Hunt to King Edward I of England, who invaded and conquered Scotland in 1296, during questions to the Treasury in the House of Commons.
Mr Hendry said the Chancellor’s decision to make cuts to public services in the Budget “defies logic”.
He told MPs: “Consequentials have consequences. The Chancellor’s Budget announced £20 billion worth of cuts for the public service, 13% cuts for some departments, and that defies logic.
“The public sector is crying out for funding and yet his choices, if implemented, will lay waste to to them, so does the minister agree with the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) that said it would be genuinely surprising if his plans could be carried out, or the Institute for Government, these spending plans will be impossible to deliver, or the Resolution Foundation which said they were fiscal fantasy?”
Treasury minister Laura Trott replied: “Over the next Parliament our plans are for spending to go up in real terms, I want to be absolutely clear about this.
“Equally spending has gone up in real terms over this Parliament too, and he will have noticed at the beginning of this answer I explained that they’re getting £295 million extra this year through Barnett consequentials.”
Mr Hendry responded: “No wonder the IFS say that there is a conspiracy of silence from both the Government and the Labour Party on the scale of these cuts.
“As a percent of UK spending, the Scottish block grant is set to fall to its lowest ever level under devolution, dwarfing its other plans.
“For Scotland, Commons Library figures show capital funding falling by 16% over the next two years, (Mr Hunt) already confirmed that the Scottish energy sector is the biggest loser from his Budget and is doubling down, why is this Chancellor trying to be the new Hammer of Scots?”
Ms Trott replied: “The only way I would agree with (Mr Hendry) is I would love to know what the Labour Party’s spending plans are for the next Parliament and perhaps they would enlighten us this evening, but I will repeat what I said at the beginning on capital, you have unlimited ability to switch from resource spending to capital spending, that is a choice that the Scottish Government have.”
Earlier in the same Commons sessions, SNP MP Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) accused the Government of “taking a hammer” to public services in Scotland.
He said: “According to the Commons Library, this Government has cut the Scottish Government’s capital funding by 16% in real terms from 2022/23 to 2024/25. The Institute of Fiscal Studies forecasts there will be a further 16% cut by 2029. So after 14 years of austerity, inflation and Covid, can the minister tell me why the Chancellor is taking a hammer to our Scottish public services?”
In response Ms Trott said: “The Honourable Gentlemen is aware that the block grant has been going up in real terms, he will also be aware that the Scottish Government can switch resource to capital unlimited amounts if they choose to do so. He will also I’m sure be aware that the Scottish Government can borrow up to £400 million in capital each year if they so wish.”
SNP MP Alan Brown (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) also stated that Ms Trott “doesn’t understand what real terms means after all”, and asked: “Why does this Government think it’s okay to decimate infrastructure spend in Scotland?”
Ms Trott said the Scottish Government is “well-funded to deliver its devolved responsibilities.”