UNIONIST politicians have been accused of supporting a Tory "power grab" to cut Holyrood's powers and hand them to Westminster.
The SNP took aim at what they called a showing of "contempt for devolution" after Conservative MSP Donald Cameron claimed during a Holyrood debate that there should be "no limit" on where Westminster decides to spend money in Scotland, even in devolved areas.
The motion called for the Scottish Parliament to agree that the UK Government's spending review plans for its Levelling Up agenda and its UK Shared Prosperity Fund "infringes the sovereignty of the Scottish Parliament by circumventing the devolution settlement to deliver policy in areas that are clearly and firmly within the ambit of the Scottish Government".
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During the debate, the SNP urged MSPs to back the motion but now the party are accusing Labour, the LibDems and the Tories of voting in favour of "undermining" the Scottish Parliament and its powers.
Commenting, SNP MSP Michelle Thomson said: “This decision will haunt Labour for years to come and shows how they continue to sink into the abyss in Scotland and will continue to do so if they work in lockstep with the Tories to undermine our democratically elected Scottish Parliament.
“How sad it is that two of the political parties who campaigned for so long for Scotland to have its own parliament are now teaming up with the Tory party, which opposed devolution tooth and nail, to cut Holyrood’s powers.
“Unsurprisingly the Tories are unable to express their support for the future of the Scottish Parliament, their Westminster bosses and their constant attempts to undermine devolution have been plain for all to see with blatant power grab after power grab.
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“However, it is outrageous that Labour and the Lib Dems supported that position in step with the Tories, even in the face of the extraordinary comments from Tory MSP Donald Cameron that Westminster should ‘decide’ how money is spent in devolved areas.
“We all know too well what happens when the Tories decide how to spend money in Scotland.
"They decide to cut, they decide to hand out public contracts to their donors and they decide to take money from communities that need it to benefit their own areas.
“We cannot trust any of the Unionist parties to protect the future of Scotland. The only way to protect the best interest of the people of Scotland is in an independent country.”
The motion passed with 65 for, 51 against, 1 abstained and 12 no votes.
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