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Budget 2013: SNP accuses UK government of 'deceit' over Budget claims | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney has accused the UK government of "deceit" over claims the Budget would boost the economy north of the border. | |
Westminster ministers said the Scottish budget would be boosted by an extra £176m over the next two years. | |
But Mr Swinney said Chancellor George Osborne had replaced real money with loans which would have to be paid back. | |
The UK government said Scots would also benefit from tax changes and cancellation of the fuel duty increase. | |
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said the Budget would support families and businesses, and would include a £279m increase in capital investment north of the border, with a cut in day-to-day spending of £103m. | |
Mr Swinney said the cut amounted to £107m and accused Coalition ministers of putting Scotland in a "straitjacket" by failing to deliver measures to aid short-term economic growth. | |
The UK government said the Budget would result in: | |
Mr Moore said: "Today's budget shows the Coalition government is building a stronger economy and fairer society to equip Scotland and the UK to succeed in the global race. | Mr Moore said: "Today's budget shows the Coalition government is building a stronger economy and fairer society to equip Scotland and the UK to succeed in the global race. |
"We face many economic challenges but this government has shown we can deliver, with one million private sector jobs and increasing personal tax allowances to £10,000 - taking 224,000 people in Scotland out of tax altogether." | "We face many economic challenges but this government has shown we can deliver, with one million private sector jobs and increasing personal tax allowances to £10,000 - taking 224,000 people in Scotland out of tax altogether." |
The Scottish secretary sent on: "We are supporting families, individuals, both small and large businesses, and investing in the future with this Budget. | The Scottish secretary sent on: "We are supporting families, individuals, both small and large businesses, and investing in the future with this Budget. |
"It is good news for Scotland and will help us build on the positive changes we are making to rebalance our economy." | "It is good news for Scotland and will help us build on the positive changes we are making to rebalance our economy." |
But Mr Swinney said the UK government had put the economy in a "growth crisis" and urged "caution" over its Scottish figures. | |
He told BBC Scotland: "The chancellor has taken away £107m of hard cash that we could spend on particular projects of our decision-making and he's replaced it with loan facilities that will have to be paid back at a later date. | |
"That does not translate into a cash boost for capital investment in our economy and that's the central deceit at the heart of this budget - an instrument by the chancellor to make his measures look better than they are." | |
The Scots finance secretary added: "What we've essentially got is a chancellor putting a straitjacket on the public finances of Scotland, restricting our room for manoeuvre and restricting the hard cash - real money - we can spend." | |
Highlighting other measures, the UK government said the Budget would: | |
Meanwhile, the UK government said new figures published by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast total North Sea oil and gas revenue at £33.9bn between 2012-13 and 2017-18. | Meanwhile, the UK government said new figures published by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast total North Sea oil and gas revenue at £33.9bn between 2012-13 and 2017-18. |
Ministers at Westminster said this was a downward revision of £0.9bn since the spending statement in the autumn and "considerably less" than those published by the Scottish government last week. | |
The Scottish government bulletin highlighted four potential scenarios that it says, taking account of recent trends in investment and prices, could result in the industry generating between £41bn and £57bn in tax revenue between 2012-13 and 2017-18. | The Scottish government bulletin highlighted four potential scenarios that it says, taking account of recent trends in investment and prices, could result in the industry generating between £41bn and £57bn in tax revenue between 2012-13 and 2017-18. |
Mr Moore said there was a gulf between those independent OBR figures and the "hugely optimistic" numbers published by the Scottish government. | |
But Mr Swinney said he was confident in his government's figures. |