Top Glasgow Tory issues apology to city 'on behalf of the party' after economic chaos

Thomas Kerr, the leader of the two-person Scottish Tory group at Glasgow City Council, used his column in the Glasgow Times to put his support behind Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, following Liz Truss’s short-lived time in office.

Kerr, who represents the Shettleston ward, pinned the blame for the UK’s recent financial turmoil entirely on Truss in a scathing review of her 49-day time in office.

READ MORE: Scotland's scathing views on UK Government revealed in major new poll

“I want to begin with an apology to the people of Glasgow on behalf of my party,” he wrote.

“The past few weeks have been completely unacceptable.

“As people struggle to pay their bills and grapple with the cost-of-living crisis, the Conservative and Unionist Party turned inwards and focused on internal battles rather than focusing on delivering for the country. For that I am truly sorry.”

Truss’s damaging – now scrapped – mini-Budget (which the Scottish Tories wanted to replicate in Scotland) led to mortgage rates soaring to highs of 6%, putting the biggest squeeze on new buyers since the late 1980s.

And although the Tory government has withdrawn many of its most controversial policies, market watchers believe rates will rise further.

In Scotland there has been a 24% drop in new buyer interest in the weeks since the announcement.

READ MORE: SNP reject Malcolm Offord's call for Scottish Government to slash taxes below UK level

And the number of mortgage approvals being made to home-buyers fell significantly in September, as borrowers’ costs increased.

Now, with inflation still rampant, the Bank of England is set to unveil the biggest hike in interest rates for 33 years.

The key Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting next week comes amid warnings that spending cuts and tax hikes under the new Prime Minister could lead to a deeper and more enduring recession.

'Little comfort'

Ross Greer, Greens MSP for the West Scotland region, said Kerr's words would be "little comfort" to people now facing soaring bills or generally facing the consequences of Tory cuts over the past 12 years.

"His apology won't lower anyone's bills or reduce the child poverty rates his party have driven up," the MSP said.

"The damage didn't begin with Liz Truss. The disastrous policies that she implemented followed years of misrule, growing inequality and a reckless Brexit. The tax cuts she offered to millionaires are the same ones that Tory politicians have argued for over many years.

"The former Prime Minister may have inflicted years worth of damage in a matter of weeks, but she was only able to do so because the party that Mr Kerr represents inexplicably backed her vision and chose to give her the keys to Downing Street.

"Now the richest MP in the history of Westminster has taken the office of Prime Minister, re-appointed a disgraced Home Secretary who is leaking confidential documents while dreaming of racist deportation flights and a Chancellor who has said 'nothing will be off the table' when it comes to cutting public services."

And SNP MSP Kaukab Stewart, who represents the Glasgow Kevin constituency, said it was "frankly insulting" that Kerr felt sorry would suffice.

"Sorry isn't good enough for people across Scotland who are facing sky high energy bills. They won't be facing the choice between heating and eating this winter, some won't be able afford to do either," she told The National.

"This chaos lies squarely at the door of the Tories and the only way Scotland can escape is with independence."