SNP claims ‘fantasy’, say rivals

The SNP have been accused of “spinning utter fantasy to the Scottish people” in the wake of new figures showing that Scotland is almost £15 billion in the red.

Opposition politicians have hit out at the Nationalist administration after the release of the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures, which painted a grim picture of Scotland’s public finances.

According to GERS, Scotland’s deficit increased from £14.3bn in 2014-15 to more than £14.8bn last year, or 9.5% of GDP.

Finance secretary Derek Mackay took to the offensive yesterday in a bid to convince voters the high deficit would not stop Scotland joining the EU, despite the continental bloc urging member states to keep budget deficits below 3% of GDP.

But Scottish Conservative finance Spokesman Murdo Fraser said: “The last thing the EU would want is to take on the risk of another bail out.

“So Nicola Sturgeon needs to be straight with people – if she wants to make the case for independence within the EU, what would the price of that be in higher taxes and reduced spending?”

His comments after Mr Mackay confirmed “independence is one of the options that we are considering to secure Scotland’s place” in the EU.

He also claimed that the Scottish Government’s £100 million economic stimulus in the wake of the Brexit vote was “new investment” – a claim ridiculed by Scottish Labour’s Jackie Baillie.

She said: “The £100m Nicola Sturgeon announced was from a previous SNP Government underspend, it’s not new money – someone should have told the finance secretary.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that the promises the SNP made in 2014 were completely misleading, but rather than admit it, SNP ministers continue to spin utter fantasy to the Scottish people.”

Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser.