by Lucy Ashton
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has claimed he ‘demanded a Labour budget rooted in Labour values and that was what Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered today.
He said: “”This budget means child poverty down, energy bills down, wages up and austerity rejected.
“Thousands of Scottish children lifted out of poverty, £150 off energy bills, £300 for those most in need, increases in the living wage and £820m extra for the Scottish Government.
“That means £10.3bn of additional resources has gone to the Scottish Government since Labour came to power, but we can’t have this opportunity squandered by the failing, incompetent and wasteful SNP.
“In May Scots face a choice – more failure and decline with John Swinney and the SNP or a new direction with me.
“Scottish Labour will fix our NHS, bring back community policing and unlock the potential of our young people.
“Big, bold meaningful change – that’s what I offer and that is the choice Scots face next May,” said Mr Sarwar.
But this was “a bungled budget from a Labour government who are making many of the same mistakes as the Conservatives did,” claimed Liberal Democrat Scottish Affairs spokesperson Susan Murray.
She said: ““Labour was elected to ease the cost-of-living crisis and boost the economy, yet for the second budget in a row it has achieved neither.
“For the millions still battling rising bills, all this budget really delivers is more tax. And no change to the toxic hike in employer national insurance for small businesses.
“There’s the occasional positive step like lifting the two-child cap, a long-time Liberal Democrat campaign goal but overall this is thin gruel.
“The Government has deliberately turned its back on the single most effective step it could take to kick-start growth and fill the £90 billion Brexit-shaped hole in the public finances. No wonder our public finances are in such a rough state.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Jamie Greene,left, said: “There was precious little in this budget on how to grow the economy. A growing economy would expand the tax base and make it much easier to pay for great public services.
“There is also almost nothing in this budget to make life better for key Scottish industries.
“There was nothing for the whisky industry, nothing for our food producers facing the hated family farm tax and nothing to make up for this government’s complete contempt for Scotland’s fishing industry.
“Scots now have two economically incompetent governments.
“Liberal Democrats have set out practical and fiscally responsible plans to grow the economy and get Scotland moving again.”
Meanwhile, the Labour Government have been accused of a “sustained assault on workers and businesses” after announcing £26 billion-worth of tax rises in the budget.
Rachel Reeves set out a host of punitive tax hikes, including freezing income tax thresholds for millions, and ignored pleas to scrap the Energy Profits Levy on the struggling oil and gas sector and Labour’s family farm tax.
At the same time, the Chancellor not only failed to tackle the ballooning welfare budget, but added to it by abolishing the two-child cap.
Meanwhile, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said hard-pressed workers were being made to pay the price for a Prime Minister and Chancellor who are stifling economic growth by constantly raising taxes.
He added that the crippling rise in bills would be most keenly felt in Scotland, where the SNP imposes the highest taxes in the UK.
Russell Findlay, right, said: “Labour’s £26 billion tax bombshell continues their sustained attack on hard-pressed workers and businesses.
“After breaking their pre-election promises by hiking National Insurance and introducing the spiteful family farm tax in last year’s budget, Labour promised there would be no more tax rises.
“That was another lie from the Chancellor and Prime Minister. They’ve found more taxpayers’ cash to fund an out-of-control welfare bill but haven’t lifted a finger to help oil and gas workers or U-turned on the family farm tax.
“Our oil and gas industry faces an existential threat due to Labour and the SNP hostility.
“With 1,000 oil and gas jobs being lost every month, Rachel Reeves’ refusal to end the Energy Profits Levy signals Labour’s contempt for an industry on its knees and communities across the North East.”