NICOLA Sturgeon has accused Conservative MSPs of becoming "uncomfortable" when poverty is mentioned in parliament.
The claim came in response to a question from SNP MSP Stuart McMillan during First Minister's Questions on Thursday on the impact of the self-isolation support grant on low-income workers who have suffered from Covid-19.
The First Minister said: “It’s always really striking presiding officer just how uncomfortable the Scottish Conservatives get when poverty gets mentioned in this chamber
“I’m not sure it’s always visible to people watching at home but the cat-calling and the heckling and the shuffling in the seats always starts from the Conservatives because they know deep down inside, or not even so deep down inside that their party is pushing more and more people into poverty every single week.”
This comes as John Swinney is set to lay out the Scottish Budget on Thursday afternoon.
He said he faced "difficult decisions" and the devolution limited the amount of support Scoland would be able to provide to struggling households.
Although inflation dipped slightly from the record high seen in October, food and energy prices have kept up the pressure on families across the country.
The First Minister continued: “It is the responsibility of this government to do everything we can to lift people out of poverty, the Scottish Child Payment is the foremost example of that.
“During times of extremity at the height of the Covid pandemic, the self-isolation payment was a very important tool and 150,000 households all over the country were helped through that so it’s an important measure.
“Hopefully it will not be necessary again but we stand ready to reintroduce it should circumstances dictate that it is necessary.”
