TORY MSPs reacted with fury as their new leader was slammed for his support for the “discredited” former prime minister Liz Truss at his first bout with John Swinney.
Russell Findlay used his first appearance as Scottish Tory leader at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday to attack the SNP’s plans for a National Care Service.
He described the policy as “classic SNP” and, citing opposition from councils and trade unions, said claimed “nobody seems to want” the policy.
But Swinney hit back after Findlay called for the plans to be ditched and for the Government to instead directly invest in the existing care sector.
The First Minister took aim at the new Scottish Tory leader’s past enthusiastic support for Truss (above), who Swinney accused of having “undermined” Scotland with her disastrous economic policies.
In his opening salvo, Findlay outlined the criticism the policy has faced, including the leaders of Scottish councils pulling their support for the policy last month.
He said: “The SNP’s plans for a National Care Service have already wasted £28 million of taxpayers’ money.
“Four parliamentary committees have warned about its flaws, NHS bosses have serious concerns, Scotland’s council leaders and unions have pulled their support.
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“So why is the First Minister pushing ahead with a plan that nobody seems to want?”
Swinney argued that a Government-ordered review of the care system in Scotland found public support for a national care system.
In response to Findlay (above) highlighting that patients were “trapped” in hospital beds because of the inadequacy of the care system, a phenomenon called delayed discharge, Swinney said the Scottish Tory leader was highlighting the case for a National Care Service.
He pointed out that the frequency of delayed discharge across the country could be as much as 10 times that in other areas.
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Swinney said: “That is unfair in this country, it needs to be addressed and that’s what a National Care Service will deliver.”
The First Minister went on to accuse the Tories of opposing the Government’s past moves to increase pay for care workers.
But Findlay claimed the plans for the National Care Service “sum up what’s wrong with politics in Scotland”.
He added: “Plans for a National Care Service that are costing a fortune but not caring for anyone, just like the ferries that don’t carry passengers and [prisons] that free criminals early.
“This Government needs a reality check.”
In response to Findlay’s calls for the money to be put “directly into frontline care”, the First Minister said Scotland was spending £1.5 billion more in public services than if it had “followed the UK Government’s budget allocations” to Holyrood.
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To heckles from the Tory benches, Swinney (below) said: “The Conservatives obviously don’t like hearing that Mr Findlay was a supporter of Liz Truss, whose economic and fiscal policies have undermined the public finances of Scotland. That is the reality that I’m going to point out to Mr Findlay.”
He added: “If Mr Findlay wants a lesson in reality, then I will tell him that I will not follow in the discredited and failed policies of the Conservative Party. We will make our choices here in Scotland to invest in our public services and to protect the people of our country.”
In a report this January, the Scottish Fiscal Commission noted that the “gap” in what the Scottish Government spent on devolved benefits versus what it got from the UK Government in the block grant was forecast to rise to £1.5bn by 2029.
In the current financial year, increased rates of income tax for the highest-earners added the same figure to the Scottish Government’s total tax take.
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