SNP MSP for Glasgow Anne McLaughlin has welcomed the joint declaration made yesterday (Thursday) by the First Ministers, Deputy First Ministers and Finance Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland ahead of the UK Comprehensive Spending Review.

Ms McLaughlin warned the Chancellor must not ignore the unprecedented declaration and pointed to reports in the Financial Times that the Treasury is already working up plans to reprofile spending cuts because of the difficulties of quickly cutting spending – including financial penalties for breaking contracts and redundancy costs.

Commenting, Ms McLaughlin said: “This is a remarkable and unanimous warning from three out of the four UK nations, five political parties in government, and which must not be ignored by the Chancellor.

“The scale of the spending cuts proposed by the UK Government risks jeopardising recovery and causing significant harm to the economy at this critical period. There is no doubt that, by cutting too far and too fast, there is a real risk that the UK Government will make things far worse.

“George Osborne must listen to the case that is being made and act to protect growth in the economy and so set the course for sustainable public finances. The Chancellor would have us believe that there is no alternative to his hard and fast cuts, and that is just not the case.

“Reports suggest the Treasury is already working up plans to reprofile spending cuts because of the dangers of quickly cutting spending, that is encouraging, and it is clearly not too late for the Chancellor to think again in the weeks before the announcement of the UK’s Comprehensive Spending Review.

“The recent report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies underlined concerns that the Tory/Liberal coalition is pursuing a regressive, not progressive, agenda which will widen the gap between rich and poor and result in sustained cuts to public services.

Notes:

1. The Scottish Government's statement can be read here.

2. Reports in the Financial Times can be found here.