The Chancellor will announce the Treasury’s new Budget on Wednesday, and he has been urged by SNP MP Ian Blackford to set aside a huge sum for Scotland’s Brexit and Covid recovery. Mr Blackford said: “The Chancellor must use this Budget to get a grip of the spiralling Tory cost of living crisis and mitigate the damage that Tory cuts, regressive tax hikes and Brexit have caused.”
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He added: “Under the Tories, the UK suffers from the worst levels of poverty and inequality in north-west Europe and in-work poverty is at the highest levels this century.
“Rishi Sunak’s decision to slash Universal Credit, impose a public sector pay freeze, raise National Insurance, and scrap the triple lock on pensions will push even more families into hardship.
“It is essential that the UK Government introduces an emergency package to boost household incomes and reverse rising poverty.
“Introducing a real Living Wage, ending the pay freeze, reversing Universal Credit cuts, and delivering an energy payment for low-income households.
“With Brexit hammering the economy, the Chancellor must follow the EU’s lead and introduce a Brexit Recovery Fund to mitigate the damage caused, which has already cost Scotland billions of pounds.”
Mr Blackford highlighted that the EU has given Ireland €1.05billion to address the impact of Brexit, while the UK Government has given Scotland no compensation.
READ MORE: SNP demand multi-billion Brexit Recovery Fund from Sunak in attack
Currently, Scotland is experiencing major issues in haulage, hospitality and care sectors as they suffer severe staff shortages.
The rest of the UK is also experiencing a major lorry driver crisis and soaring energy bills.
But in an interview with Sky News, Mr Sunak argued that these are global issues that cannot necessarily be solved by government hand-outs.
Mr Blackford’s criticism of the Chancellor’s decision to raise taxes has been echoed by MPs from all sides of the political spectrum.
Tory MP for Rossendale and Darwen Jake Berry stood firmly against the National Insurance hike, or as he called it the "jobs tax".
He said: “It doesn’t seem fair to me – particularly following this pandemic where so many people have taken great sacrifices to keep people safe, it’s particularly hit the youngest, particularly hit those in work – that we then ask those in work to pay for people to have protection in care.”
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Ahead of the Budget reveal, veteran political journalist Andrew Marr asked Mr Sunak whether he is going to be known as a tax-cutting chancellor by the end of this term of parliament.
Mr Sunak responded by saying: “Of course, my instincts are to do that, that’s what I believe.
“I want people to be able to keep more of their money, I want to reward people for working, I think that is a good thing and I think that will help drive economic growth.
“But as we discussed, I’ve also had to grapple with an economic shock – the biggest in 300 years – borrowing at the highest since World War Two, and things like the elective backlogs in the NHS which we want to make progress on.
“So those are some of the challenges in the short-term.”
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Mr Sunak is faced with over ￡2trillion UK debt, with Covid spending alone costing approximately ￡317billion this year.
The Budget will lay out plans for billions of spending on job schemes, the NHS, education, family support and transport – these investments will be felt across the UK, including Scotland.
The National Living Wage is also due to rise from ￡8.91 per hour to ￡9.50 per hour.
Do you think Scotland should receive a separate grant for Brexit and Covid recovery? Let us know in the comment section below.
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