THE Finance Secretary has said Chancellor Rishi Sunak has repeatedly refused to "provide clarity once and for all" on whether furlough cash will be available if Scotland decides on a second lockdown.
Kate Forbes said she has made four requests for a meeting with either Sunak or the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Steve Barclay, since the UK Government announced the extension of the furlough scheme, which was linked to confirmation of a second lockdown in England.
Forbes told MSPs these requests have not been granted, adding: "One suspects because they still don't know what their own position is."
The Finance Secretary's comments reflect those of the First Minister.
READ MORE: UK Government in 'chaos' as Tory ministers dodge Scots furlough questions
Responding to a journalist's tweet which said: "Scottish Conservatives insist the PM’s [furlough] commitment is 'definitive'," Nicola Sturgeon wrote: "But definitively what?"
Fears have been raised that Scotland may have to announce its own lockdown if the UK Government fails to provide firm answers on the issue.
Sturgeon said the Prime Minister "appears to have agreed" that access to the furlough scheme would be available in Scotland after December 2, if it was required, with the UK Government picking up the tab for 80% of workers' wages.
But Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick this morning seemed to row back on that commitment, saying it would be a "decision the Chancellor will have to make at the time".
Sturgeon said there must be a "level playing field", with no part of the UK disadvantaged.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie warned: "If we can't get a straight answer from the UK Conservative Government soon about the future lockdown and future furlough to support it, the Scottish Government will be forced to lockdown Scotland on Thursday."
Forbes said that three days after the English lockdown and extension of furlough until December 2 were announced, UK ministers "still can't give a straight answer as to whether Scottish businesses are of the same value in the Chancellor's eyes as English businesses".
She has now written to Sunak demanding full details of the Prime Minister's commitment to a Scotland-only furlough, and confirmation it would apply at the full 80% level currently available to businesses.
The Finance Secretary is also seeking assurances there would be no reduction in eligibility for the scheme and that similar support would be available for self-employed people.
She said: "This boils down to a very simple question, does the Prime Minister and does the Chancellor place as much value on a business in Scotland and a job in Scotland as they do on a business or a job elsewhere in the UK?
READ MORE: Boris Johnson dodges questions on furlough for devolved Covid lockdowns
"The UK Government wouldn't budge when we asked for furlough to be extended, or when Wales asked, or when Northern Ireland asked.
"Now, at the eleventh hour before furlough was due to end, it was extended because England was going into lockdown."
At the Scottish Government's coronavirus briefing earlier on Tuesday, Sturgeon said she had not received confirmation from the Treasury that the scheme can continue beyond December 2 - the proposed end date for the English lockdown - at 80% of wages.
Speaking as 28 coronavirus deaths and 999 positive tests were recorded in Scotland in the past 24 hours, she did not rule out imposing tougher restrictions if necessary.
She stressed: "It is in nobody's interest for public health decisions to be distorted by the need to effectively try to game a financial system.
"We should all have access to the same financial support."
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