SCOTTISH Conservative leader Douglas Ross has said he has “confidence” in the UK Government to “take the difficult decisions to get things back under control”.
Ross’s comments come following weeks of economic turmoil in the wake of the announcement of Liz Truss’s mini-Budget.
The Prime Minister is now under increasing pressure with her new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt having ditched most of her fiscal policy in his emergency statement on Monday.
Speaking to STV’s Scotland Tonight, Ross said: “I think it’s crucial that when people are struggling, the Government steps up and deals with these issues and provides the solutions to the problem that people in this country and indeed across the world are facing at the moment.”
"I have confidence that this UK Conservative government can take the difficult decisions to get things back under control"@ScotTories leader @Douglas4Moray tells @STVColin why he still backs Liz Truss as Prime Minister.
— ScotlandTonight (@ScotlandTonight) October 17, 2022
Tune in for the full interview on #scotnight at 10.40pm pic.twitter.com/j4OPQv7rHX
He was then asked if he continued to back the Prime Minister. Ross continued: “Yes I back the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and this government to do what it promised to do.
“That’s to get growth back into our economy, as I said at the start of this segment, there’s now a different direction of travel but the ultimate destination has not changed.
“We have to grow our economy to get more productivity into the Scottish economy, the UK economy and if we do that then that will deliver for everyone.”
STV’s Colin Mackay pressed Ross on the damage done by Liz Truss to the UK economy and whether or not he had “confidence” in the UK Government.
He said: “Well as I said Colin, you know the Prime Minister has accepted mistakes were made.”
Mackay then added: “By her.”
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Ross replied: “Well yes the Prime Minister has accepted that and the former chancellor accepted that but I have confidence that this UK Conservative government can take the difficult decisions to get things back under control, to restore credibility and stability into the markets, into our economy and that’s in the long run going to help people right across the country.”
The Scottish Tory leader previously demanded that Holyrood replicate the tax cuts first announced by Kwasi Kwarteng.
In a statement on Monday, Hunt scrapped most of Liz Truss’s economic plan as he confirmed the public sector would be forced into major spending cuts in a bid to stabilise the economy.
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