FAILED former leader of the Scottish Tories at Holyrood Jackson Carlaw believes extending the workers’ furlough scheme would be “in nobody’s long-term interests, least of all those trapped in a job that can only exist because of a government subsidy.”

The Conservative MSP expressed his controversial view in a response to a letter sent to him by the SNP’s Alex Kerr, who is seeking the party nomination to challenge him for his Eastwood constituency at next year’s Scottish Parliament elections.

Kerr believes Carlaw is “totally out of touch with the public on this”. He added: ‘‘It is callous of the Tories treating people’s livelihoods like this.”

Kerr, who would be hoping to overturn a majority of just 1610 in Eastwood if selected, believes that his opponent’s take on the furlough scheme will rebound on him.

He said: “I fully expect that Carlaw will have no financial difficulties whether or not he remains an MSP after 2021.

“He is very insulated in a way that many of his constituents won’t be. He is very insulated in a way that many people in Scotland certainly aren’t.

“He is not going to have to rely on the furlough scheme at any point. I think there will be plenty of his constituents who will look at the view he’s taken on people being ‘trapped’ in employment and just think that he is totally out of touch.”

Kerr, one of the six SNP candidates at the 2019 European Election, decided to reach out to Carlaw in the hope of garnering cross-party support when the Conservative MSP relinquished his role as Holyrood leader in July.

He wrote in his letter: ‘‘East Renfrewshire Council’s cabinet received a report which showed the scale of the ‘unprecedented disruption to the economy” being caused by Covid-19 in the council area.

“The report notes that young people, women, minority groups, those with disabilities and people over 50 are likely to be hit the hardest. Perhaps most starkly, the report finds that four out of every 10 businesses across East Renfrewshire are expecting upcoming redundancies over the next three months. Your constituents need the support provided by the furlough schemes now more than ever.

“The last thing Scottish businesses and workers who are reliant on this scheme need is for this vital support to be pulled while we are still in the midst of a global pandemic.

“The current October ‘cliff-edge’ deadline is putting the third of the Scottish workforce who are being supported by these schemes at serious risk. The UK Government must follow the example of France and Germany who have now extended their furlough schemes to 24 months to protect jobs.”

Kerr feels that Eastwood’s sitting MSP is letting down his constituents with the defiant stance on furlough. He said: ‘‘The way that Jackson and the Tories are looking at it is quite heartless really.

‘‘They see jobs as redundant jobs. They don’t really see these people as people, they see them as numbers.’’