These Tory cuts will damage our public services
Sturgeon tells of fears in fresh attack on PM
STRUGGLING public services face a cash crisis due to the Tories tanking the economy, Nicola Sturgeon has warned.
The First Minister said the Government could be forced into a “deep reduction in spending” to pay for its “catastrophic” mini-Budget.
Finance Secretary John Swinney also warned of damage to public services, claiming the Scottish Government was finding it “ever more difficult” to pursue goals due to financial decisions made at Westminster.
Sturgeon attacked Liz Truss’s economic strategy yesterday after the PM broke days of silence with a series of radio interviews – sparking an instant fall in the currency and stockmarket.
She told MSPs: “I was critical of the fact that the Prime Minister was missing in action.
“But having heard her this morning and watched the market reaction as she spoke, perhaps we were better off when the Prime Minister was missing in action than when she was out talking about the disaster she has inflicted on this country.”
Sturgeon echoed calls for Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to reverse the “abhorrent policies” which were increasing people’s fears about their finances.
At First Minister’s Questions, she warned Scots were “terrified” of being able to pay their mortgage and fuel bills this winter.
And she hit out at Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross for urging her to copy Truss’s tax-cutting plans.
She said: “People watching this session right now are terrified about the inability to heat their homes; the inability to pay their mortgages.
“All week they’ve heard Douglas Ross demanding I match Tory tax cuts for the richest people.
“Tax cuts that have already sunk the pound, crashed the mortgage market, brought pensions to the brink of collapse, and forced the Bank of England into an emergency bail-out.
“Tax cuts that will force a deep reduction in public spending.”
Swinney, earlier told MSPs he had never seen “financial strain and pressure” like that being experienced.
Comparing the current crisis to the crash of 2008, he added: “I don’t use those words lightly. I managed through the financial crash.”
We were better off when the PM was missing NICOLA STURGEON ON PM’S RADIO INTERVIEWS