Scottish government announces spending cuts worth £500m – as it happened

Shona Robison speaks at the SNP annual conference in Edinburgh on 31 August. Photograph: Lesley Martin/PA

5.40pm BST

Afternoon summary

• Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the UK government’s decision to suspend some arms export licences to Israel, describing it as a shameful decision that would embolden a genocidal Hamas.

• Tom Tugendhat has said that people will “never vote for a party that they’ve stopped taking seriously” – promising to lead a “Conservative revolution” as he launched his campaign for the Tory leadership.

• Simon Case, the head of the civil service, has backed the government’s figures showing that a £22bn shortfall was left by the previous Conservative administration.

• Great Britain’s renewable energy auction has secured enough new clean electricity projects to power 11m UK homes after the Labour government made record funding available to suppliers.

• The Scottish government will have to make cuts worth £500m, Shona Robison, the finance secretary has told MSPs. (See 3.25pm and 4.14pm.)

5.40pm BST

And this is from Liz Smith MSP, the Scottish Conservatives’ finance spokesperson.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission is clear that, had the Scottish economy grown at the same rate as the UK economy in the last decade, the SNP would have had £624m more to spend. Had that happened many of today’s swingeing cuts wouldn’t be necessary….

— Liz Smith CBE MSP (@mspliz) September 3, 2024

The Scottish Fiscal Commission is clear that, had the Scottish economy grown at the same rate as the UK economy in the last decade, the SNP would have had £624m more to spend. Had that happened many of today’s swingeing cuts wouldn’t be necessary….