Scotland facing £2 billion Tory austerity cuts

Theresa May

SCOTLAND is facing a further £2 billion austerity bombshell as Tory cuts to social security harm the most vulnerable and tax giveaways to the wealthy leave under-pressure services starved of vital funds.

The cash will be ripped away from Scots by Theresa May's government over the course of the present Westminster Parliament.

The SNP, now the third largest party at Westminster, claimed the cuts showed that the Tories were imposing an "increasingly right wing" agenda on Scots despite May's party having just one MP north of the Border.

House of Commons data shows that the cutbacks to welfare and lost taxation revenue will leave Scotland about £2 billion worse off during the Tories' five-year term in government.

The full scale of the cuts is laid bare in figures from the Commons library and represent Scotland's share of the UK's overall austerity burden, which is set to hit public services even harder from the New Year.

The loss for Scotland includes deep cuts to services and welfare benefits run by the UK Government's Department of Work and Pensions. These include Chancellor Philip Hammond's decision to slash the Work Allowance for Universal Credit, which is set to see Scotland £740 million worse off in terms of household incomes by 2021.

The decision to freeze working age benefits will see household incomes slump by a further £760 million during the same period, according to the figures.

And Hammond's cutting of the capital gains tax basic rate to 10 per cent and main rate to 20 per cent – a tax break for the richest – will reduce Scotland’s tax take by £172m.

Opposition parties have warned that the true cost is likely to be higher as the UK Government’s figures do not take into account the projected rise in inflation.

Edinburgh South Labour MP Ian Murray slammed the cuts after his party requested the figures as part of new analysis of UK government policy, which shows the expected impact of the two budgets and autumn statements since the last General Election.

He said: “These figures are shocking and Theresa May and Ruth Davidson should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. Tory cuts on this scale will be a bombshell for Scottish families.

“In the run-up to the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor suggested he would do things differently from his predecessor, but in reality, he did nothing of the sort. It’s the same old Tory story of tax cuts for the wealthy and just cuts for everyone else.

“Labour called for the cuts to Universal Credit to be scrapped but the Chancellor refused. That alone will cost Scottish households around £740million by 2021. And with inflation projected to increase, the freeze in working age benefits will bite even deeper than the £760million expected. Theresa May and Ruth Davidson may claim to be on the side of ordinary working people, but, as these figures show, that is total nonsense.

“Meanwhile, as the draft Scottish Budget showed, Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP Government has turned the Scottish Parliament into a conveyor belt to pass on Tory cuts to the Scottish people. Rather than reintroduce the 50p rate for the richest few, the SNP has chosen once again to cut the local authority budgets that pay for our schools, care services and hospitals.

“This proves beyond doubt that only Labour, in Scotland and across the UK, can be trusted to abandon austerity, invest in public services, and give working families up and down this country the support they need to prosper.”

The SNP responded. accusing Scottish Labour of failing to provide a strong enough voice against Tory cuts and the UK Government's Hard Brexit agenda.

An SNP spokesperson said: “Labour would be more convincing if they weren't plotting to put the increasingly right-wing Tories into power in councils across Scotland next year. And the biggest threat to Scotland’s economy and funding is the Tory plan for a Hard Brexit so it’s time for Labour to say whether they’ll support the Scottish Government’s proposal to keep Scotland in the European single market or side with the Tory Brexiteers who want to drag us out.”

A UK Government spokesperson hit back: “The best way to support people is to help them into a job, so it is welcome that in Scotland there are a near record 2.6 million people now in work.

“Our welfare reforms are incentivising work, while restoring fairness to the system. And across the UK we continue to spend over £90bn a year on working age benefits to ensure there is a strong safety net.

“We have also repeatedly increased the tax contribution of the wealthy – the share of total income tax paid by the top one per cent is 27 per cent, higher than in any year between 1997-2010.

“We are devolving significant new welfare, tax and spending powers to the Scottish Government, and we will continue to work together to ensure that devolution works for the people of Scotland and the UK.”

Reproduced courtesy of the Scottish Herald