SNP MP Mhairi Black yesterday demanded the Tories come clean over the replacement of hundreds of millions of pounds in European funding – and confirm they will not steal Scotland’s funds.

She demanded in the House of Commons that the Scotland Office provide details on how the UK Shared Prosperity Fund – the replacement for EU funds – will work in practice and what conditions will have to be met to qualify for such funding.

The UK Government told MPs that further details on how the fund would work would be set out in the UK Budget but witnesses at the Scottish Affairs Committee last week said there was still no clarity on these issues.

The call comes after the UK Government confirmed in a letter to Finance Secretary Kate Forbes that Whitehall will bypass the devolved administrations to replace European Structural Funds with a fund controlled by the UK Government. That means more than £100m will be spent by the Tory Government on projects normally devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

Speaking after Scotland Questions, Black said: “The lack of clarity on how the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will work suggests that the Tories at Westminster are gearing up for another outrageous power grab on the powers of the Scottish Parliament by stealing Scotland’s funds. It wouldn’t be the first time the Tories have sold us out.”