HALF OF SCOTS FEEL WORSE OFF WITH LABOUR'S BUDGET OF CUTS

HALF OF SCOTS FEEL WORSE OFF WITH LABOUR'S BUDGET OF CUTS

ONLY 3% FEEL BETTER OFF!

BROWN SAYS DARLING TO "GO ON AND ON" LIKE THATCHER

A poll in today's Scotsman is proof positive that the SNP is right to oppose the deep cuts proposed by Labour's Chancellor says the SNP Treasury Spokesman, Stewart Hosie MP.

The YouGov poll shows 48% believe they will be worse off as a result of Labour's Budget, compared with only 3% who think they will be better off.

Commenting on the poll and on news that Gordon Brown wants Alistair Darling to continue as Chancellor Mr Hosie said the only way to resist Labour's cuts will be to elect a strong block of SNP MPs to stand up for Scottish interests at Westminster.

Commenting, Mr Hosie said:

“The people of Scotland have rumbled Alistair Darling’s Budget, and think it is bad for Scotland by a factor of six to one.

"Labour's real terms cut being imposed in Scotland’s budget in 2010/11 will cost 4,000 jobs, and threatens recovery. Now all of Labour’s attacks on the Tories at Westminster about the dangers of cutting early apply equally to Labour in relation to Scotland, given that they are cutting our budget in the coming year by £400 million.

"And now we hear that Gordon Brown not only wants Alistair Darling to cut Scotland's budget 'deeper' than Margaret Thatcher but that he also wants him to go on, and on like Margaret Thatcher! The SNP's campaign image for 'More Nats, Less Cuts' has been remarkably prescient.

“This is the man who held the purse strings tightly drawn for Scotland during this week’s Budget, refusing to accelerate capital spending that would have delivered front line services; this is the man whose Budget cuts for Scotland were three times bigger than for the rest of the UK and this is the man who is cutting hundreds of millions from the Scottish budget this year alone.

“Brown and Darling’s vision for Scotland is just like that of the Tories - and Wednesday’s budget was the stark proof. Everything Alistair Darling said in the Budget about Tory early cuts applies to Labour in Scotland.

“Only a vote for the SNP will be a vote against cuts because More Nats means Less Cuts. A strong block of SNP MPs at Westminster will stand up for Scottish interests and speak out against the massive Thatcherite cuts planned by Labour and the Conservatives.”