Ahead of the launch of a UK Government Scotland Analysis paper which will attempt to talk down Scotland’s finances, the SNP has said that Scotland will not be fooled by Westminster again,
Tory Chancellor George Osborne, who has inflicted unprecedented cuts to the Scottish budget In recent years, is already signed up to further cuts of £25bn. However, it is believed that due to Mr Osborne’s perceived liability to the No campaign, the job of talking down Scotland’s finances at the launch of a Scotland Analysis paper next week, has been passed to his colleague Danny Alexander – just as the Lib Dems are suffering at the polls.
SNP MSP Maureen Watt said:
“George Osborne and the Tories are so much of a liability for the No campaign that this week they are being forced to leave the job of talking down Scotland’s finances to Danny Alexander. But in the week that Mr Alexander’s party is being annihilated at the polls, it’s clearer than ever that people don’t trust a word the Lib Dems say on the economy – or anything else for that matter.
“And we will take no lectures on the economy from the UK Treasury – a recent report from Westminster’s Public Audit Committee accused them of creative accounting, branding the UK Government’s books as nothing more than ‘an elaborate accounting exercise’.
“People in Scotland will not be fooled by this week’s elaborate scaremongering exercise from the No camp. No matter what they say, the fact remains that an independent Scotland would be the 14th wealthiest nation in the OECD – ahead of France, Japan and the UK.
“But for over 40 years, our wealth has been squandered by successive Tory governments at Westminster. Scotland has well and truly paid the price for years of Treasury failure. Under the Westminster system, people across Scotland are facing hardship at the hands of Tory/Lib Dem welfare cuts that have led to a 400 per cent increase in food bank use. However, the Westminster government is still spending billions of pounds renewing Trident and paying for the House of Lords in which members can claim up to £300 a day simply by turning up.
“And for 40 years, the UK Treasury has been guilty of a dereliction of responsibility by failing to set up an oil fund – which has cost Scotland between £17,000 and £23,000 in terms of every man, woman and child in the country.
“With a Yes vote in September we can finally establish and oil fund, get rid of Trident, scrap the Bedroom Tax and create a welfare system that works for us. Only independence gives us the opportunity to strengthen our economy, work towards a fairer Scotland and realise our full potential. We must grasp this opportunity with both hands.”