SNP ROUNDS ON BROWN OVER STIMULUS PACKAGE.

SNP ROUNDS ON BROWN OVER STIMULUS PACKAGE.

ABSURD AND EMBARRASSING CLAIM FOR BROWN TO TAKE CREDIT.

Commenting on the meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Washington, the Scottish National Party’s Westminster Treasury spokesperson, Stewart Hosie MP, said it was absurd and embarrassing for Gordon Brown to claim his stimulus package was anything like President Obama's since the Prime Minister's plan equals £1 billion of cuts in Scottish public spending.

Mr Hosie said:

“It is embarrassing and absurd for Gordon Brown to try to take credit for the stimulus package being introduced by President Obama – particularly when the UK Government are planning to respond to the recession by actually CUTTING spending in Scotland.

“The contrast could not be more stark. President Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package will support some 3.5 million jobs nationwide – and a key characteristic of the Obama plan is that the bulk of the additional resources is going to the individual States.

"The state of Maryland, for example – which has a similar population to Scotland – will receive some £2.6 billion extra funding, supporting 66,000 jobs over the next two years.

"Contrast this with the UK where, Gordon Brown is proposing to cut Scottish public spending from 2010 by £500 million a year, in the teeth of a recession. This would destroy 8,700 jobs in Scotland.”

Also commenting on reports that Gordon Brown's visit to the United States had been downgraded, and that there would not be a formal joint press conference between the Prime Minister and President, SNP Shadow Scotland Office spokesperson, Angus MacNeil MP, said:

"The downgrading of Gordon Brown's visit is even more embarrassing to Gordon Brown who has been desperate to tap into President Obama's popularity."