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UK efficiency plan under pressure First ministers to resist 'cuts'
(about 2 hours later)
Gordon Brown is expected to come under pressure from the UK's first ministers over the Treasury's planned efficiency savings drive. Gordon Brown is due to come under fire from the UK's first ministers over the Treasury's planned efficiency savings.
The proposals aim to save £5bn over the next few years - but the Scottish Government said the move would cost it hundreds of millions of pounds.The proposals aim to save £5bn over the next few years - but the Scottish Government said the move would cost it hundreds of millions of pounds.
The concerns will be raised when Mr Brown meets Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond at Westminster. The concerns will be raised when Mr Brown sits down with the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish first ministers at Westminster.
The Welsh and Northern Irish first ministers will also be there. But the prime minister is expected to demand that the savings are made.
Despite the concerns, the prime minister is expected to demand the savings are made.
'Re-think' call'Re-think' call
Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister, has denounced the plan as "utter madness".
A spokesman for Mr Salmond said the Scottish and UK governments had been able to agree on several spending policy areas, such as the acceleration of cash to fund major public infrastructure projects.A spokesman for Mr Salmond said the Scottish and UK governments had been able to agree on several spending policy areas, such as the acceleration of cash to fund major public infrastructure projects.
But the spokesman argued that to go ahead with the planned cuts during the current economic crisis could be disastrous - a view, he said, was shared by ministers in Wales and Northern Ireland. But the spokesman argued that to go ahead with the proposal during the current economic crisis could be disastrous - a view, he said, was shared by ministers in Wales and Northern Ireland.
"There must be a re-think by the UK Government," he said."There must be a re-think by the UK Government," he said.
The Scottish Government is also calling for greater, and ultimately full, control over Scotland's finances.
The UK Government's plan, announced in the pre-Budget report, aims to help save the UK from a deep recession, but has taken the country's borrowing to record levels.The UK Government's plan, announced in the pre-Budget report, aims to help save the UK from a deep recession, but has taken the country's borrowing to record levels.
At the weekend, Chancellor Alistair Darling urged Mr Salmond to stop "blustering" and work out how to make the Scottish Government more cost-effective.
Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has said the pre-Budget report would boost the Scottish economy by £2bn.Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has said the pre-Budget report would boost the Scottish economy by £2bn.
BBC political correspondent David Thompson said the meeting will test whether the devolved administrations can put party politics to one side and work with Westminster to protect the UK as a whole from the global economic crisis.
Present at the meeting with Mr Brown will be Mr Salmond, Mr Murphy, Wales's First Minister Rhodri Morgan and Secretary of State Paul Murphy, and Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and Secretary of State Sean Woodward.
The face-to-face meeting between Mr Brown and Mr Salmond will be the first in almost a year.The face-to-face meeting between Mr Brown and Mr Salmond will be the first in almost a year.