THE SNP have slammed comments made by Ian Murray over fresh funding for the Grangemouth oil refinery as "beyond belief".
The Scottish Secretary claimed Labour were responsible for the funding announcement made by John Swinney in Holyrood on Tuesday.
The First Minister pledged a further £25 million to secure a “just transition” for Grangemouth, calling on the UK Government to match the Scottish Government’s funding.
He said that the Labour Government must “do what it said it would do before the election”.
Earlier this month, redundancy letters were sent out to staff at the oil refinery owned by Petroineos – with only 65 of around 500 jobs expected to be retained.
It was announced last year that the central Scotland facility would close and transition to become an import terminal, as Petroineos reported massive losses at the refinery.
Yet Murray said the announcement was only "made possible" by Rachel Reeves' Autumn Budget, which he claimed delivered £4.9 billion extra for the Scottish Budget.
Responding to the news of the announcement, Murray said: “This new urgency around Grangemouth is to be welcomed, and John Swinney’s announcement today is made possible by Labour’s austerity-ending budget which delivered £4.9bn extra for the Scottish Budget.
“When Labour came to office last year, there were no plans for Grangemouth. Within days the UK Labour Government approached the Scottish Government to put together a package of measures. This included £100m for the Falkirk and Grangemouth growth deal, which will deliver more than £628m in economic benefits and create 1660 jobs.
She said: “For Labour to claim they are in any way responsible for the funding announcement made by First Minister John Swinney is beyond belief.
“The Labour Party promised to save jobs at Grangemouth – and they have broken that promise. The least they could do now is match this £25m fund, with a similar fund from the UK Government.
“Scottish Labour MSPs must do the right thing and back the Scottish Government’s Budget, which delivers this £25m increase for the workers at Grangemouth."
The Scottish Government is proposing the additional funding for Grangemouth as a Stage 3 amendment to the Scottish Budget bill.
A provisional date for the final vote on the bill has been scheduled for February 25.
