Scottish Tories ‘trying to con’ voters in SNP budget row

Murdo Fraser, the party’s finance spokesman, will use a debate in Holyrood today to ask for £15.4 million to be spent on residential drug rehabilitation beds, £50m for the police to ensure 750 officers keep their jobs, and cash to go towards tackling homelessness. But the SNP criticised the demands, saying Scotland’s annual budget has fallen by £2 billion in real terms since 2010.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon: Tory criticism of police funds takes nerve

SNP MSP Tom Arthur said: “The Tory leadership candidates are trying to con voters by promising extra cash on public services while handing their rich pals a tax cut – it just doesn’t add up.”

Tom Arthur MSP said the Tories were promising more money and tax cuts, a pair of policies that don't add up

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) Scotland has previously argued that adopting Westminster’s income tax plans would cost Scotland more than £1bn across four years – which the think tank has described as “unaffordable”.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay will announce the draft tax and spending plans tomorrow.

The process was pushed back from December following a delay from the UK Government in laying out its own Budget – with worries circulating at Holyrood over a lack of time to scrutinise the Scottish Government’s spending plans.

For the last four years the minority SNP administration has relied on support from the Scottish Greens to get their budget through Holyrood.

READ MORE: Scottish Greens call on Government to focus on public transport in Budget

However, Patrick Harvie has suggested there’s still some way to go before his colleagues back Mackay’s plans.

“The Scottish Government has used the language of a climate emergency, but so far we’ve not seen anything in the way of an emergency response,” he said. “If the Cabinet Secretary is serious about delivering a transformative budget that begins to tackle the climate emergency he shouldn’t miss the opportunity to act.”