DAWN OF THE DEBT
Nat MSP Beggars belief PM is wasting taxpayer millions on zombie department
The SNP has accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of wasting taxpayers’ money after figures revealed soaring Scotland Office costs.
Spending in the UK Government department has steadily increased since the independence referendum.
Its latest accounts show costs have increased from almost £ 8million in 2014 to nearly £11million last year.
Nationalist MSP Angela Constance criticised the £ 3.1million rise, saying Scottish Secretary of State Alister Jack’s off ice was now nothing more than a “propaganda campaign” for Johnson and the union.
It comes after the Tories advertised for a new £ 120,000 salary senior adviser role to be based in the department’s brand new offices in Edinburgh.
Constance said: “While many working families in Scotland are struggling to simply get by, it beggars belief that Boris Johnson’s Tory Government is wasting millions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash on this zombie department.
“Scotland didn’t vote for a Tory Government and we certainly didn’t vote for Boris Johnson, yet we’re left to foot the bill for the spiralling cost of this redundant department.
“Voters will be rightly outraged that Westminster is splurging million son advisers, spin doctors and advertising for a department that is little more than a propaganda campaign to promote Tory policies.
“Recruiting someone on £ 120,000 a year is a ridiculous amount of money to pay for someone whose job is effectively to wave a Union flag.
“People in Scotland are sick of Boris Johnson’s clear contempt for Scotland. Westminster is broken, and rest assured that Scotland will have a say over our future.”
Critics of the Scotland Office regularly refer to it as a “zombie department”, claiming it has no meaningful role in Scotland since devolution and redundant.
However, official figures also show that staffing numbers at the Scotland Office have risen by more than 45 per cent since the Conservatives came to power in 2010. A Scotland Office source said: “This is pathetic and predi c table f rom Angela Constance.”
A UK Government spokesman said the job being advertised is to replace a staff member who was leaving and was not a new role.
They added: “The Secretary of State for Scotland and his team play a vital role in promoting the best interests of Scotland within a strong UK, and representing effectively Scottish interests at the heart of the UK Government.
“We are currently recruiting for a senior civil servant to support the Secretary of State in leading t he de pa r t ment ’ s wor k strengthening the Union and ensuring the Scottish economy recovers after coronavirus.”