Rachel Reeves has unveiled her first Spending Review as Chancellor, but for many across Scotland and beyond, it has brought more concern than comfort.
The SNP has accused Labour of filling every corner of the Spending Review with cuts, failing to deliver meaningful help for struggling families facing today’s cost of living crisis.
Dave Doogan MP, the SNP’s economy spokesperson, welcomed some of the longer-term investments announced.
These include progress on the Acorn carbon capture project and a Labour u-turn on funding for Edinburgh University’s world-leading supercomputer.
But, he stressed, the real failure lies in the lack of immediate support for households who are already under severe financial strain.
Mr Doogan said Labour’s priorities are now clear.
The Spending Review locks in cuts to support for disabled people.
It maintains a jobs tax that is already contributing to rising unemployment.
It also imposes fresh real-terms cuts on government departments still reeling from years of austerity.
The numbers, he warned, speak for themselves.
Each time Chancellor Reeves steps up to deliver a major financial statement, forecasts for growth are downgraded, market confidence stumbles and unemployment edges higher.
He fears this latest announcement will follow the same grim trajectory.
Rather than softening the blow of a fragile economy, Reeves has opted to stick doggedly to Labour’s fiscal rules, which many believe leave her little room for manoeuvre.
Critics warn that these self-imposed targets, borrowed from previous Conservative policies, may force Labour into making even deeper cuts later in the year.
Mr Doogan said there is an “inconvenient truth” lurking behind this Spending Review.
By the time autumn arrives, the figures announced today may already be out of date.
Labour could well return with another round of cuts simply to meet its own rigid spending limits.
For many in Scotland, this is yet another sign that the change Labour promised at the last election is failing to materialise.
Mr Doogan said people across the country had hoped for genuine change, but instead find themselves facing more of the same economic hardship.
He warned that the cycle of economic decline, fuelled by damaging Westminster decisions and austerity policies, is set to continue.
In his view, only with full powers over the Scottish economy can real and lasting change be delivered.
As the political debate intensifies, families trying to make ends meet are left waiting for real relief.
While long-term projects offer some hope for the future, the pressing needs of today remain unanswered.
