The Scotsman

Sturgeon: ‘I’m not out of touch on cost of living crisis’

● SNP leader accused of choosing to take no action on squeezed incomes

- By CONOR MATCHETT

Nicola Sturgeon has denied being out of touch on the cost-of-living crisis despite having an annual household income of £215,000 as she came under attack on the eve of the council elections.

Her comments came after accusation­s from Scottish Labour claiming the SNP was preferring to make the squeeze on incomes a constituti­onal debate rather than effectivel­y dealing with the problem.

A poll for The Scotsman , undertaken by Savanta Comres, found 63 per cent of voters believe the economy to be one of the most important issues facing Scotland, with just 22 per cent arguing independen­ce is in the same category.

Speaking to journalist­s at a campaign stop in Edinburgh n ear the Scottish Parliament, the First Minister claimed she had made changes to her household energy consumptio­n and denied she was out of touch.

Ms Sturgeon has repeatedly criticised the UK Government and its ministers for being out of touch and argued Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Prime Minister Boris Johnson were in another “stratosphe­re” when compared to her own income.

With the First Minister’s salary of £135,605 and the salary of her husband Peter Murrell hitting £79,750 as chief executive of th es np, the first minister’ s total income sits at £215,355.

Asked whether she is as out of touch as other politician­s on the struggles facing people suffering from the costof-living crisis, Ms Sturgeon said she would “not pretend for a second" her experience was the same.

She said :“we’ re doing all sorts. we’ re doing a lot of things to try to lower our energy use.

"But I’m not going to sit here and pretend that my experience is the same as other people, but I know lots of people in my own wider network that are really struggling right now.

"I live in Glasgow, in a street where I don’t know. They don’t share their personal details with me, I’m pretty certain people will be really feeling the squeeze. I’m not going to pretend that

my personal experience given the job I do, the income I have, is the same as others.

"But given my background, my family background and everything, I do know what it is like to struggle.”

Exclusive polling for The Scotsman showed an increase in the number of people stating they were now struggling to pay their bills, with 41 per cent stating it was now an issue.

Almost all Scots have noticed price rises, with groceries (92 per cent noticing increases), utility bills (91 percent) and fuel (90 percent) the most common highlighte­d as having risen.

In total, 81 per cent of Scots state they are worried about their cost of living, with almost a third (32 percent) stating they are “very worried”.

Just 18 per cent said they were not worried about the squeeze on incomes.

At First Minister’s Questions, Labour leader Anas Sarwar raised examples of councils run by his party increasing payments to low-income households.

He said :“in west lothian, discounted rail travel fort he over 60s was delivered by Labour, but, across Scotland, the SNP hiked rail fares and hit hardpresse­d families.

"In North Lanarkshir­e, Labour has topped up the welfare fund, supporting hundreds of families. The SNP Government has refused to back Labour’s plans to do the same across the country.

“While Labour leads the way on tackling the cost-of-living crisis, the SNP prefers to make it a constituti­onal debate. After 15 years in government, maybe Nicola Sturgeon should stop pretending that she is in opposition and act to stand up for the people of Scotland."

However, in answers to journalist­s, the First Minister said she acknowledg­ed she was in a different position to the majorityof scots, but denied she would ever be a “multi-millionair­e” or set for life. She said she did understand the pressures facing people, however, saying she was speaking to “lots of people” who were already buying the “cheapest things” and “already cutting back”.

Ms Sturgeon said: “My criticism of the UK is actually not on the personal circumstan­ces, although Boris Johnson and particular­ly Rishi Sunak are in a different stratosphe­re to me. My criticism is on the tin-eared comments they are making, which shows they don’t understand or don’t care.”

Asked whether her Government would be announcing new policies around the cost of living to help Scots, Ms Sturgeon said there was an “exercise across government” looking at how they could “redirect resources”. She said ministers were looking at the issue on a “daily, weekly basis”. Finance minister Kate Forbes has so far mirrored theuk govern men t’ s response to the cost-of-living crisis, issuing a £150 council tax rebate to those in bands A to D. Ministers have also increased the scottish child payment, but have repeatedly said the key powers lie with Westminste­r to truly tackle the crisis.

The First Minister said: "I hope we can do more. I think we’ re already doing a significan­t amount, but no government and government­s collective­lyare not yet doing enough .”

 ?? ?? 0 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on the last day of campaignin­g in Edinburgh yesterday
0 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on the last day of campaignin­g in Edinburgh yesterday

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