John Swinney and the SNP’s claim that the UK Government has driven Scotland into “austerity” has been called out, as the Scottish Government have been told to “stop wasting our money.” The First Minister has based his General Election campaign around tackling austerity and the “privatisation” of public services.
He doubled down on this during a campaign visit in Edinburgh on Thursday, accusing the Tories of letting down a generation of young people and “robbing them of opportunity” as he cited Brexit, austerity and the cost-of-living crisis. The SNP claim that independence would solve these issues.
His Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan added to this on the same visit as she insisted that people about her age (31) had lived their “entire adult life under Westminster austerity.” She also claimed tthe SNP was “the only party who stand firmly against austerity” pointing to the Scottish Government’s “progressive” tax regime which sees the country have six tax bands, and forcing Scots who earn more than £27k to pay more than their English counterparts.
But Scottish Tory MSP Murdo Fraser was quick to dispute these claims from the Nats, pointing out the hugely significant funding the Holyrood administration receive every year. He wrote: “Next time someone from the SNP bleats about ‘austerity’, send them this chart from @Strath_FAI. The Westminster block grant is today 69% higher in real terms compared to when devolution started (inflated in recent years due to Covid spending). Stop wasting our money!”
His evidence came from the Fraser of Allander whose chart about the funding showed that in real terms the 2024-25 block grant was £43.3bn, while in 1999-2000 it was £25.6bn. This cash boost was criticised by Nat MP Pete Wishart following the March budget as the “lowest since devolution.”
But the statisticians disputed that showing that “if we exclude 2020-21, which was an exceptional year due to COVID-related funding, the 24-25 block grant is still not the biggest, as it is slightly smaller than the block grant for 2023-24. However, if we consider the resource (i.e. day to day spending) block grant only, it is the biggest ever (if we exclude 2020-21.)
“Much more meaningful, though, is to look at it in real terms, that is, to adjust the figures by inflation. If we do this, we see that the block grant in 2024-25 is one of the highest ever, and 10% higher than pre-COVID levels in 2019-20, but also that the block grant has fallen in real terms by 2.5% between 2023-24 and 2024-25.
“Secondly, the interpretation. The changes in the Scottish Block Grant are mechanically driven by the Barnett formula, so is driven by changes in spending on devolved services in England (or sometimes, England and Wales). The UK Government is not making decisions to spend less or more in Scotland – rather, they are making decisions about England (or England and Wales) which have a knock-on effect on the Scottish block grant. It seems a stretch to say this is the UK Government ‘treating Scotland with contempt.'”
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