Sturgeon: Tory party conference was 'like watching Fawlty Towers'

It marked a complete change of tone the First Minister took yesterday after she made a slightly more sympathetic tweet in the aftermath of the Prime Minister's disastrous address in Manchester.

Today Sturgeon condemned "the shambolic Tory government at Westminster", saying watching the Prime Minister was like viewing an episode of the slapstick BBC comedy.

She said seeing the letters fall off the backdrop behind the Prime Minister was "like watching  an episode of Fawlty Towers", before adding: "This is a shambolic, chaotic, Tory Westminster Government which is doing real damage to the people of Scotland and across the UK."

May laboriously struggled to get through her conference keynote speech yesterday after a series of embarrassing problems left the Tory faithful reeling.

The bizarre episodes began when an intruder gave her a P45 live on stage, continued with the PM developing a persistent cough prompting observers to wonder whether she would carry on and ended with letters from the slogan behind her "Building a Britain that Works for Everyone" falling off.

The address should have been the highlight of the four-day event in Manchester and was meant to put May on the front foot and allow her to regain her authority after a disastrous General Election campaign in which she lost her Commons’ majority and saw Labour’s strength soar.

It also should have made delegates leave feeling refreshed and upbeat. But instead it increased speculation about how long she would remain in power.

Sturgeon also said that she was concerned that both Anas Sarwar and Richard Leonard, the contenders to take over from Kezia Dugdale as Scottish Labour leader, had ruled out working with the SNP.

This, she said, made her conclude that "Labour still seems to be in a position where they would rather see a Tory government than ever work with the SNP."

Sturgeon's comments came during an exchange with Scottish Labour's interim leader Alex Rowley who pressed her on whether the Scottish Government would use Holyrood powers to reverse the Tory cut to the welfare benefit, Employment Support Allowance (ESA).

The cut to ESA came into force in April for all new claimants placed into the “work-related activity group” – people too ill to work but expected to be able to return to work eventually.

Labour said that if the SNP would not commit to reversing the cut, which takes £30 a week out of people’s pockets, Labour would table amendments to the forthcoming Social Security Bill to do so.

Rowley raised the issue following research from Macmillan Cancer Support revealed 280 cancer patients in Scotland have lost out on £120 a month in ESA since April.

Macmillan say that using the Parliament’s new social security powers to reverse the cut would cost £400,000 a year. Reversing the cut for everyone affected would cost £14 million in the next financial year.

Interim Scottish Labour leader Alex Rowley said: "These are cruel Tory cuts that make a mockery of the claims of Theresa May and Ruth Davidson that the Tories want to build a country that works for everyone.

"Labour will fight these cuts at Westminster – but we can protect people now. Reversing cuts for people living with cancer would cost £400,000. Reversing them for everyone affected, would cost £14 million next year."

After Sturgeon said her government would look at ways to mitigate cuts, Rowley said he understood her point and said he wanted a General Election to put Jeremy Corbyn into Number 10.