KATE Forbes last night called on the Rishi Sunak to hand over “every penny that has been promised to Scotland” after MSPs unanimously agreed her appointment.

Forbes attracted cross-party praise in the chamber yesterday as Nicola Sturgeon outlined her new appointments after a reshuffle prompted by the resignation of former Finance Secretary Derek Mackay over a schoolboy messaging scandal which has also seen him suspended from the SNP.

He was absent from the Scottish Parliament last night as MSPs voted to confirm Forbes as the country’s first female Finance Secretary, calling her and new ministerial appointment Jenny Gilruth some of the SNP’s “brightest and best”.

That vote came hours after new Chancellor Rishi Sunak ended days of speculation that the UK Budget would be pushed back as he tries to pick up from Sajid Javid, who quit over a row with Downing Street.

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Making the announcement on Twitter, Sunak said: “Cracking on with preparations for my first Budget on March 11. It will deliver on the promises we made to the British people – levelling up and unleashing the country’s potential.”

Responding last night, Forbes told The National: “It is a relief that the Chancellor has finally confirmed his Budget date after excessive delays. The UK Government must now ensure that it includes every penny that has been promised to Scotland.”

Clarity on timing came after a morning session in front of MSPs, when Forbes referred to “press noise” about potential delay and repeated that, due to an absence of detail from the Treasury, her government’s spending plan had to be based on “assumptions”.

On the chances of Budget consequentials from the HS2, she went on: “Our experience of consequentials from the UK Government is that we never fully know what the amount is until the money enters the bank account.

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“On the additional consequentials for the health service last year, an announcement was made about £600 million, but at the end of the day the amount that we got was short of that.

“It is very difficult to make predictions – we need confirmation of how much we will get.”

Outlining the new appointments, including enhanced roles for Fiona Hyslop, Michael Russell, Fergus Ewing and Ben Macpherson, Sturgeon said they would “bring new talent into government and deliver a real focus, not only on driving forward our economy, but also on addressing the challenges of Brexit, increasing our population and ending Scotland’s contribution to the climate crisis”.

LibDem Alex Cole-Hamilton praised Forbes’ “snake-charming abilities”, Tory Liam Kerr moved to “congratulate the First Minister on her choices” and Labour’s Rhoda Grant said Forbes’ appointment had been met with “condescending and sexist” commentary “dressed up as praise”, adding: “I hope that will not continue because it’s not strange to have a woman as Cabinet Secretary for Finance.”