SNP STEP UP CAMPAIGN AGAINST LABOUR SPENDING CUTS

SNP STEP UP CAMPAIGN AGAINST LABOUR SPENDING CUTS

“FIRST THE ‘SLEEKIT BILLION’, NOW UP-FRONT CUTS”

Scottish National Party MP Stewart Hosie today stepped up the campaign
against the billion pounds of cuts that the UK Labour government are
threatening to impose on Scotland’s budget over 2010/11 and 2011/12.
Applied equally across UK Departmental Expenditure Limit budgets, the £5
billion cuts proposed by the UK Government in each of these two years
would cut Scotland’s budget by £380 million a year. And the reduction of
the health department’s capital budget in England of £1.4 billion in
2010/11 would cause a recurring cut in the Scottish Government’s capital
budget of around £125 million.

Earlier this year, the SNP highlighted £1 billion of spending that was
being withheld from Scotland by the Treasury – including the £120 million
of Scotland’s fossil fuel levy, the Scottish Government’s own underspend,
and the failure to apply the Barnett Formula to spending south of the
Border in areas such as prisons spending, London Olympics regeneration,
and police and firefighter pensions.

Treasury Spokesman Stewart Hosie said:

“First, we had London Labour’s sleekit, backdoor spending cuts in Scotland
– withholding a billion pounds of spending that could and should be
flowing through the Scottish economy to help fund a reflationary funding
programme.

“And now, Labour are proposing a billion pounds of upfront cuts to the
Scottish Government’s budget, at a time when record Scottish oil revenues
are flowing to the London Exchequer - £55 billion over the coming six
years compared to £41 billion during the previous six.

“Scotland needs to escape from the financial straightjacket imposed by
Westminster, which is why we need the full financial freedom of
independence – a Scottish parliament and government with real economic
powers so that we can make the right decisions for Scotland.

“A range of small European nations – such as Norway and Finland, and
indeed the Eurozone as a whole – are projected to keep on growing, while
the UK plunges into recession.

“The case for independence is compelling, and Labour’s budget cuts will be
a dominating issue in Scottish politics over the next two years in the run
up to the Scottish Government’s planned referendum.”