THE UK Chancellor has responded to fierce criticism from the SNP by claiming Scotland gets its “fair share” from Downing Street despite “precious little thanks”.
Philip Hammond’s remarks came after SNP MP Kirsty Blackman lambasted the Tory Government for austerity measures, raised concerns about a no-deal Brexit and said Scots were being unfairly treated by Westminster.
Scotland "needs to take our lifeboat and get off this sinking Brexit ship", the SNP economy spokesperson said as she called for the Scottish Government to be "treated as equals".
Blackman said that from 2010/11 to 2019/20, Scotland’s resource block grant has been cut by nearly £2 billion in real terms.
From 2010/11 to 2019/20 Scotland’s resource block grant has been cut by nearly £2 billion in real terms. https://t.co/uJTItkcyH2
— Kirsty Blackman (@KirstySNP) March 13, 2019
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She also criticised Universal Credit, saying that "Scotland has been badly served by consecutive Westminster governments" and that people in the UK had suffered from "a decade’s worth of austerity”.
The SNP MP raised further concerns about companies in the UK’s financial sector setting up shop overseas because of Brexit.
But Hammond, who had just delivered the spring statement on the UK Government Budget, dismissed Blackman’s criticism. "Scotland gets its fair share of the increased spending of both capital and resource, but precious little thanks we ever hear from those benches in exchange for it,” he said.
He claimed that if the SNP should back Theresa May's withdrawal deal if they did not want a no-deal Brexit.
Hammond, who had been urged by Blackman to upgrade the spring statement into an emergency budget for Brexit, said he was concerned about assets being moved abroad but called for the SNP to focus on the number of assets that stay in the UK.
READ MORE: SNP MP urges Tory Chancellor to announce emergency Brexit budget
The Chancellor then defended the introduction of Universal Credit, saying that it “delivers”.
“People who are on Universal Credit are more likely to be in work that people who are trapped on legacy benefits,” he said.
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