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SNP demand £100bn stimulus package to lift Scotland and UK out of Covid crisis
Covid: SNP write to Rishi Sunak demanding £100bn financial stimulus package
By Xander Richards @xanderescribe Multimedia Journalist
Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak will receive the letter from Ian Blackford
THE UK Government must "step up and deliver" a financial stimulus package of around £100 billion in order to boost the economy out of the Covid crisis, the SNP have said.
In a letter to Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the SNP's leader at Westminster, Ian Blackford, took aim at reported plans to "insult" workers and freeze wages in the public sector.
He wrote: "It's no use Tory ministers clapping for public sector workers in the spring, if they then cut public sector pay in the autumn."
Blackford said a "major fiscal stimulus package of at least £98bn" was necessary to protect public services and "kickstart a strong economic recovery".
This package, he says, should include "increasing the level of health and social care spending in England to at least the higher per capita level in Scotland".
READ MORE: SNP MP says Holyrood can 'grind down' Westminster until indyref2 is granted
A House of Commons report from last year states Scotland had spent £2396 on health per person in the year 2018/2019. That figure was £130 lower in England.
Raising spending in England to Scottish levels would mean "an extra £35bn in England and an extra £4bn for NHS Scotland through Barnett consequentials", according to Blackford.
He also called for the £98bn package to be used to make the £20 uplift to Universal Credit permanent and extend it to legacy benefits, deliver support for the three million people excluded, match the new Scottish Child Payment of £10 per child per week, and extend the furlough scheme to the end of 2021, if necessary.
The furlough scheme is currently due to expire at the end of March 2021, with the Universal Credit uplift ending the following month.
I've written to @BorisJohnson and @RishiSunak setting out @theSNP's calls for a £98billion+ fiscal stimulus package, and the devolution of financial powers, to protect our public services, put money in people's pockets and kickstart a strong economic recovery #spendingreview pic.twitter.com/RKEDMlMNdS
— Ian Blackford (@Ianblackford_MP) November 24, 2020
The MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber also called for the devolution of further powers from Westminster to the Scottish Government which, he says, is "best placed to secure a strong, fair, and green recovery for Scotland".
READ MORE: Devolved nations join forces to demand Westminster replace EU funds
Blackford said this wide ranging package would stand in contrast to the "return to Tory austerity" planned by Westminster's top brass.
A Treasury spokesperson said: "All nations and regions of the UK have benefited from our unprecedented £200bn coronavirus support package.
"We have protected hundreds of thousands of Scottish jobs through the furlough scheme, provided loans of nearly £3bn to Scottish businesses and given the Scottish Government an additional £8.2bn to tackle the impact of coronavirus.
"As we have throughout this crisis, we will continue to listen and respond to people's concerns and work closely with the devolved administration in Scotland."
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