Only independence offers a permanent escape from damaging Tory austerity, the SNP has said, after reports revealed the Prime Minister and Chancellor are planning 2010 levels of deep spending cuts.
Hitting out at the “callous” nature of the Conservatives, the SNP’s Shadow Chancellor warned that “austerity 2.0” would further entrench the poverty the Tories have caused and lead to a repeat of the excess deaths seen in the wake of the Tories initial rounds of cuts.
It’s estimated 20,000 excess deaths in Scotland alone were caused by austerity measures imposed by Tory governments since 2010.
Meanwhile, figures from the Trussell Trust, the UK’s leading food bank operator, show an 81% increase in foodbank reliance in the last five years alone.
Commenting, the SNP’s Shadow Chancellor Alison Thewliss MP said:
“It is crucial Scotland isn’t forced to accept another wave of Westminster cuts that will bring in a return to the devastation we witnessed after 2010.
“We need the full powers of independence to escape that.
“The austerity measures ushered in previously by Tory governments destroyed communities, decimated public services, forced a wave of poverty and caused tens of thousands of excess deaths.
“It is disgusting that the Tories would signal to a repeat of that.
“The failure of the Tories’ rotten ideology driven austerity programme is there for everyone to see, whether it’s in the public services destroyed or the unprecedented rise in food banks across the UK.
“Yet the ever callous Conservatives are pressing ahead anyway.
“Rather than delivering real support and protecting people’s livelihoods, the Tories are intent on imposing austerity 2.0 and further entrenching the poverty they have caused.
“Scotland is set on a different path, one where we’ve tried to lift people out of poverty and destitution, not force them into it.
“But all that work is at risk with every day we remain ruled by Westminster – demonstrating once again why Scotland must become an independent country.”
