THE SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford has said he’s “glad” Boris Johnson is gone following the outgoing Prime Minister's final speech.
Johnson gave his final speech outside Downing Street on Tuesday morning where he spoke of what he felt he had achieved during his time in office.
Speaking to the BBC, Blackford said: “It was a greatest hits. I think it’s everything we’ve heard in Prime Minister’s Questions over the last couple of years, it was a reprise of all of that.
“I wish him all the best for the future. I’m glad that he’s gone because I do think that he’s besmirched the office that he’s held. Let’s move on.
“I think today it’s really a question about how we deal with the cost-of-living crisis.”
Last Sunday, incoming prime minister Liz Truss pledged to outline how she was going to tackle soaring energy bills “within one week”.
Reports now are suggesting that she is considering freezing energy bills until the next general election, which is scheduled for 2024.
Blackford continued: “This is the biggest economic crisis that we have faced since the 1970s and I think as the opposition, as the Government in Scotland, it’s beholden on us that we act in a reasoned manner.
“I’m saying to the prime minister today, let’s cap the energy cost increases for consumers and for businesses because we face a number of businesses going to the wall quite frankly if we don’t do that.”
He added that the debate would be around how this was funded and that “consumers cannot be left to pick up the bill for this”.
Truss has previously said that “it is fair” that her plans to cut taxes ultimately benefit the rich rather than the poor.
Blackford said: “The idea that those that are wealthy get a tax cut, it’s simply the wrong time to do it.
“Not even Margaret Thatcher would have done that in 1979. Let's make sure we protect bill payers. That's the priority."
