Nicola Sturgeon has branded Kwasi Kwarteng's tax cuts for the rich as "morally repugnant" and a "catastrophic disaster" in a stinging attack on the UK Government.
The First Minister also gave her strongest indication yet that the Scottish Government will not follow Westminster in slashing the top rate of income tax for the highest earners.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a swathe of measures to tackle inflation and drive growth on Friday, including scrapping the top rate of income tax, cutting the basic rate to 19p in the pound and scrapping the cap on banker’s bonuses.
But the markets have reacted negatively to the announcements - with sterling falling to its lowest level against the US dollar in history.
The Scottish Government has faced calls from Tories to follow the tax cutting plans of the UK Government
She hinted on Friday that her ministers would not follow the same route - but doubled down when asked about it today.
“We’ll take a sensible approach, which will be in stark contrast to the one we’re seeing from the UK Government,” she said.
“We have a situation right now where everybody bar the most tribal Tory supporters thinks what the Chancellor has done is morally repugnant, fiscally damaging and reckless.
“And yet somehow, there is an expectation that the Scottish Government should follow suit – that would be absolutely the wrong thing to do.
“So, we’ll take sensible, careful decisions that are about helping those who need help most.”
Asked for her response to the broader plans laid out by the Chancellor on Friday, the First Minister said: “The mini-budget was a catastrophic disaster that is playing out in real time before our eyes right now.
“The UK economy is in crisis, we’re seeing sterling in freefall, we’re seeing the cost of Government borrowing ratcheting up.
“We saw on Friday from the Chancellor policies that are, in my view, morally abhorrent, racking up borrowing that future generations will have to repay, not to invest in the overall wellbeing of the economy or help the majority, but to make a relatively small number of already rich people even richer – that’s indefensible.”
Sturgeon went on to say that the policies are also proving to be “fiscally reckless”, given the reaction from markets on Monday, predicting a potential increase in interest rates and cost of borrowing and a continuing issue with inflation.
“This Government, the UK Government, seems to have no idea what it is doing – the damage it is doing to the economy overall, and to the living standards of the majority, is deep and very, very serious.”
Worries have been raised about the potential for people to migrate south of the border as a result of the tax cut, but the First Minister said the value of a country doesn’t rest on income tax rates alone.
“The attractiveness of a country is not just about income tax rates, it’s about the health of an economy overall, it’s about the investment in our infrastructure, it’s about the strength of our public services, it’s about the social contract,” she said.
She went on to say that those living in Scotland do not have to pay university tuition, elderly personal care costs or prescription charges.
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