THE SNP have called for Boris Johnson to apologise for “leaving the UK in crisis” as a result of Brexit as the Tory party conference gets underway.
With Conservatives gathering today in Manchester for the four-day event, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford warned the Prime Minister is making families poorer with Tory cuts, tax rises and soaring bills.
He called for a multi-billion pound Brexit recovery fund to mitigate the impact of Johnson’s deal and an emergency package of measures to boost household incomes ahead of the Budget.
Blackford said: “Boris Johnson must open Tory conference with an apology to the millions of families who will be poorer and worse off as a direct result of Tory cuts, tax hikes and the growing cost of Brexit.
“The Prime Minister’s disastrous hard Tory Brexit deal has left the UK in crisis – with prices soaring, petrol stations running dry, empty supermarket shelves, food rotting in the fields, exports collapsing, and businesses losing millions due to staffing shortages and trade barriers.
“Brexit has already cost Scotland billions of pounds – and is projected to leave every person the equivalent of £1600 worse off a year by 2030 compared to EU membership.
“Added to that, Tory cuts to Universal Credit, the national insurance hike, and soaring bills will mean the majority of families will lose hundreds or thousands of pounds over the coming months. Low and middle-income families are being hammered by this Tory government.”
He added: “For all the empty rhetoric, you can’t level up by making people poorer – but that is exactly what this Tory government has done.”
In a statement ahead of the conference, Johnson said the UK Government is ready to take “big, bold decisions” to rebuild the country after the ravages of Covid.
“We didn’t go through Covid to go back to how things were before – to the status quo ante. Build back better means we want things to change and improve as we recover,” he said. “That means taking the big, bold decisions on the priorities people care about – like on social care, on supporting jobs, on climate change, tackling crime and levelling up.”
He claimed the Conservative government has a “track record of delivering on the people’s priorities” – including by getting Brexit “done”, offering support during Covid and rolling out the vaccine programme.
He added: “All of this shows we are delivering – and now it is time to go further – not only to recover, but to build back better – with decisive action on more jobs, more police and supporting health and social care.”
Meanwhile Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross will claim First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is “detached from working-class communities” in a speech at a conference fringe event today.
He will say: “Working-class people across Scotland look to Holyrood and see a Scottish Parliament that does not represent them. That largely ignores them and belittles their values. There is a representation gap for working people.”
He is expected to attack the Scottish Government over the Hate Crime Act, a move to issue warnings for possession of class A drugs and the vaccine passport plan.
But SNP MSP Neil Gray (above) said: “Douglas Ross is desperately trying to be relevant, but his Tory bosses have relegated him to speaking at a fringe event.
“While the First Minister and SNP government are focused on navigating through this pandemic and working to protect people’s livelihoods, Douglas Ross and the Scottish Tories continue to fall into line behind Boris Johnson to impose devastating policies that will push people into hardship and poverty.”
The Scottish Greens said Johnson’s policies risk exacerbating the climate crisis.
Environment and climate spokesperson Mark Ruskell MSP said: “The policies pursued by the Westminster government; more oil and gas extraction, aviation growth, huge road expansion projects and even the prospect of opening a new coal mine, are akin to climate change denial.
“Scotland alone has the potential to deliver 25% of Europe’s offshore renewable energy, yet the policies of a government the people of Scotland never voted for make it harder to utilise that potential.”
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