RISHI’S £800M BOOST FOR THE UNION

Chancellor’s bumper Budget pledge

THE Chancellor delivered an £800million boost to Scotland yesterday.

The cash was announced as Rishi Sunak said the Union with the rest of the UK had never been more important.

He launched his bid to get the country back to work amid the Covid-19 pandemic in his summer statement to the House of

Commons. Mr Sunak said it was the ‘undeniable truth’ that the Union had provided an ‘extraordinary’ benefit.

In a series of pledges, he unveiled a scheme to give people 50 per cent off when out dining in August, slashed VAT for the tourism and hospitality sector, and

announced a new ‘job retention bonus’. His £30billion package of giveaways across the UK is aimed at jumpstarting the economy and protecting jobs.

In a break with Tory orthodoxy, Mr Sunak is gambling on a massive cash injection to get consumers spending and head off a huge wave of unemployment.

He said the furlough scheme will end in October but announced a new ‘job retention bonus’. It will pay firms £1,000 for every staff member they bring back from furlough and keep at least three months.

In addition to UK-wide pledges, which also include a bid to help teens and young adults, the Treasury announced an £800million boost for Scotland.

The cash, under the Barnett formula for funding the UK’s devolved governments, comes after new training and apprenticeship initiatives in England, as well as a move to help bolster the green jobs sector. Mr Sunak said his summer statement means Scotland will have received £4.6billion in total from the Treasury to help deal with the pandemic.

He said: ‘Millions of people in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have been protected by the UK Government’s

‘Fantastic package of support’

economic interventions, and they will be supported by today’s plan for jobs.

‘No Nationalist can ignore the undeniable truth: this help has only been possible because we are a United Kingdom.’

Delivering his statement at Westminster, Mr Sunak said the Barnett bonus should be used by the Scottish Government to deliver ‘similar measures in Scotland to the ones we are providing elsewhere’.

He added: ‘Scotland has benefited extraordinarily from the interventions that this Government have put in place during this crisis.’

While the ‘billions of pounds’ in Barnett formula funding was important, he said it was ‘more importantly about the ability for us to act as one United Kingdom.

‘At a time like this, the importance of that has never been more to the fore.’

In his statement, Mr Sunak announced VAT on food, accommodation and attractions will fall from 20 per cent to 5 per cent across the UK.

The cut, which comes into force next Wednesday, will apply to eat-in or takeaway food from restaurants, cafes and pubs. It will also apply to hotels, campsites, caravan sites, cinemas, theme parks and zoos. He also unveiled a scheme to give people 50 per cent off when out dining across the country in August.

As part of his mini-Budget, he announced a £2billion ‘kickstart’ scheme to help create jobs for young people.

His announcement on granting a temporary stamp duty holiday in England to help the housing market will not be replicated in Scotland, unless Nicola Sturgeon matches it for the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax here.

In addition, the Chancellor made a commitment to new measures to help get youngsters into the workplace, with businesses to receive £2,000 for each apprentice under the age of 25 that firms hire.

But this, too, will not affect Scotland, nor will a move to create jobs in the housing and construction sector.

The Scottish Government has been urged to use the Barnett bonus to fund similar pledges north of the Border.

Mr Sunak said his measures for the hospitality and tourism sector will be ‘absolutely vital in driving the growth of Scotland going forward’. He added: ‘They are a reminder to everyone – we are stronger together, one United Kingdom.’ The UK Government says measures such as the furlough scheme have ‘protected more than 620,000 jobs, thousands of businesses and paid £425million to self-employed people’ in Scotland.

Last night, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: ‘The Chancellor has set out a fantastic package of support. The devolved administration now needs to play its part and show it is serious about Scotland’s economic recovery.’

But Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said: ‘It falls well short of delivering what is needed to boost the economy and protect jobs.’ She added: ‘A half-price meal out does not help those struggling to put food on the table.’

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