NICOLA Sturgeon has demanded "clarity" after a Tory minister appeared to row back on the Prime Minister's commitment regarding furlough money being available in Scotland if there were to be another full lockdown later than England's.

Tory MP Robert Jenrick told Sky News this morning that the UK-wide furlough scheme would be available to everyone in the United Kingdom, including Scotland, until December 2, at which time "the Chancellor quite rightly will have to decide what its future is."

However, his comments appeared to contradict Boris Johnson's answer when he finally confirmed to Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross that furlough money would be available for Scotland, and applies "not just now, but of course, in the future as well."  Johnson's response to Ross in the Commons followed answers to SNP and Welsh MPs when he gave no such guarantees.

Taking to Twitter to express her frustration, the First Minister demanded clarity.

READ MORE: Scottish ministers seek urgent clarity over Boris Johnson's furlough vow

She wrote: "We need clarity on this urgently today. I'm sorry to say that @ScotGov has had no more detail now than we did before PM statement yesterday.

"Woolly words don't pay people's wages."

Since announcing the second lockdown for England and the extension of the furlough scheme to December 2 on Saturday night, the Prime Minister has been vague in confirming whether devolved governments would receive funding if their country went into lockdown at a later point than England's current plans.

But when pressed by Ross, the Prime Minister appeared confirm it would remain available to Scotland in the future.

He said: "The furlough scheme is a UK-wide scheme and will continue to be available wherever it is needed." 

Speaking on Sky News, Jenrick responded to Kaye Burley's question of whether that "promise" had been a "cast-iron guarantee".

He said: "I think what the Prime Minister said yesterday - excuse me for repeating myself – was that we'll continue to provide the financial support that Scotland needs, so that the Scottish people get the benefits of being part of the union, that only being part of the union can provide - and that includes the furlough scheme, which is a UK-wide scheme.

"It will be available to everybody in the United Kingdom, until the 2nd of December.

"At that point I think the Chancellor quite rightly will have to decide what its future is."

Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes also said she had written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak on the matter.

On the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme, she said: "I see this morning that another Cabinet minister appears to have walked back on the Prime Minister's commitment that furlough will be available to Scottish businesses."

She added: "The problem is that this has been a theatrical shambles from the beginning, they could have given us an answer on Saturday night, when Scottish businesses were worried about what it would mean for them.

"They've dragged it out for two, now three days, with so many twists and turns, appeared to give answers and then appeared to walk back on them."

In his reply to a question from Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross on Monday, the Prime Minister said: "The furlough is a UK-wide scheme.

"If other parts of the UK decide to go into measures which require the furlough scheme then of course it's available to them, that has to be right and that applies not just now but of course in the future as well."