ONCE again, the UK Government have stepped up and provided more money to Scotland as we continue to fight the Covid pandemic. Another £1.1 billion was given to the SNP Government which brings the total support given to them by the UK Government since the start of the crisis to £9.7bn.

That is before you consider direct support from measures implemented by the UK Government across the Union such as the furlough scheme, self-employed income support and billions in business loans.

How typical then of the SNP to try to manufacture a grievance out of a positive news story. Their Finance Secretary Kate Forbes cranked up the machine and described the sustained investment provided by the UK Government as money that’s coming in dribs and drabs. There is nothing drib or drab about billions of pounds being used to support jobs and livelihoods across Scotland.

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Instead of focusing her ire on the UK Government, perhaps Kate Forbes should stand up in Parliament and explain why the SNP Government have wasted so much public money during their time in office.

It is estimated that the SNP have frittered away more than £1bn of your cash since they came to power in 2007. From ferries that aren’t operational to hospitals that aren’t open and botched IT systems, the common theme is appalling SNP mismanagement.

Even their latest budget plans see them commit to increasing the constitutional relations budget to support their bid for a reckless and illegal independence referendum at the same time they have slashed the housing budget.

Glasgow Times: Finance Secretary Kate ForbesFinance Secretary Kate Forbes

How can any SNP politician say with a straight face that they are serious about solving the homelessness crisis we face in Glasgow when their government’s draft budget cut funding for the “more homes” division by £268 million?

This is the very division whose stated aim is to work to “increase the number of homes across Scotland so that everyone has a good quality home that they can afford and that meets their needs”.

It was only because of the “dribs and drabs” from the UK Government that the SNP saw fit to allocate extra resources to result in a funding cut of “only” £148m. Reacting to Kate Forbes’s initial proposals, Shelter Scotland described the draft budget as “shocking” and a step “backwards”.

And this wasn’t the only retrograde step on housing that Kate Forbes has taken. The main Help To Buy scheme, which has helped thousands of Scots on to the housing ladder, is also to be axed in the coming year. We all know the challenges young people face when looking to buy their first property, and this policy has been a lifeline to more than 17,000 Scots who have bought their homes with this government support since 2013. For a Scottish Government which has never had as many resources at its disposal as it does now to choose to kill the aspiration of home ownership for young Scots is nothing short of a scandal.

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These failures of gross mismanagement come with a cost and they reveal all you need to know about the SNP’s political priorities. The next time you hear an SNP minister complaining about “Tory austerity”, think to yourself how much of your hard-earned money they have wasted over the years on their half-baked vanity projects. Think about how much money they have wasted on the ferries that have failed to become a reality and the endless legal bills in fighting their former leader in the courts. 

The SNP have had 14 years of wasting our money, let us send them a message that they won’t get the opportunity to do so again in May.