Nationalists criticised for ‘hoodwinking’ voters after warning of post-independence budget cuts
THE SNP is facing calls to disown its 2014 blueprint for independence after a Nationalist MP warned leaving the UK would require deep cuts to public spending.
The Scottish Conservatives said the Nationalists’ White Paper, Scotland’s Future, had been exposed as an attempt to “hoodwink” voters.
Holyrood’s opposition party hit back after SNP MP George Kerevan presented a vision of independence that accepted a period of austerity would be needed to help balance the books.
Mr Kerevan, part of the SNP team considering currency options for a go-italone Scotland, also said public assets would have to be sold off to raise revenue to back a new Scottish pound.
His comments were in stark contrast to the White Paper published in the run-up to the 2014 referendum.
Based partly on optimistic forecasts of North Sea oil revenues, the document promised an instant £1.2 billion giveaway including tax cuts, improved state pensions and more generous childcare.
Writing in business and financial newspaper City AM earlier this week, Mr Kerevan said post-independence budget cuts would be “painful”.
Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Murdo Fraser said Mr Kerevan “admitted what was obvious: Separation does come with a cost”.
“The SNP should now have the decency to withdraw the fact-free assertions they made in their discredited white paper,” he said.
He added: “This was a party which tried to hoodwink people into believing that they would be £1,000 a year better-off after separa- tion. Mr Kerevan has now admitted that was baseless.”
And SNP spokesman said: “Given everything that the No campaign said about EU membership before the independence referendum, for Murdo Fraser to accuse the Yes campaign of broken promises is pretty desperate hypocrisy.
“It’s thanks to Fraser’s party that the people of Scotland face being dragged out of the EU against our will, a decision the IMF say will cost £270 million per week, not save £350m as promised.”