NEARLY half of Scottish households are “not confident” they will be able to maintain their current lifestyle in the face of the cost-of-living crisis, according to new research which found some eight million people have “nothing left” to cut back on.

A UK-wide study by Legal and General found the country was “not levelling up” – the professed guiding mission of Boris Johnson’s Government – as Londoners were the most confident of all Britons they would be able to keep up their current household expenditure.

Some 53% of Scots felt the same, versus 72% of those surveyed in the capital. The research, published today said this suggested “we are not only failing to rebuild, but we are also not levelling-up”.

In a find described as “deeply worrying”, the study also discovered there were more than eight million people – more than the entire population of Scotland – in the UK could not cut back on their spending any more than they already have and fear how they will cope as inflation soars.

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Inflation is currently at 9.4% and experts are predicting it could hit 12% in the autumn.

This, along with an expected rise in bills when the energy price cap is lifted in October, has led to stark warnings the poorest in society will be faced with the choice between eating or heating their homes.

The study found fewer than one-in-five (19%) felt they could comfortably afford increased energy prices.

Most surveyed wanted to see increased investment in making homes and offices more efficient as well as 54% backing government intervention in the economy to create more well-paid jobs.

Nigel Wilson, Legal and General’s chief executive, said: “Many households across the UK are facing very tough financial choices.

“For some, those choices seem impossible.”

Rona Mackay, the SNP MSP for Strathkelvin and Bearsden, said: "This is yet another deeply worrying report that lays bare the painful reality for households across Scotland right now and the brutal consequences of the cost of living with Westminster crisis.

"For decades Scotland has been let down by Westminster and that neglect is now getting worse as we see the Tories failure to act leading to an increase in the inequalities between different parts of the UK.

"People across Scotland need support and they need it now but they are left suffering as the Tories refuse to act in any meaningful way.”

She added: “With an increasingly out of touch and callous Westminster government refusing to step up, the only way for households in Scotland to have a chance of receiving the proper support they need is by seizing the opportunities of independence to create a wealthier, fairer and more equal country.”