THE Scottish Government has laid out its Budget for 2023-2024 in a heated Holyrood session which saw accusations of leaking to the media fly across the chamber.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney announced the SNP-Green government’s spending plans, headline details of which included the raising of Scottish-controlled benefits by 10.1% – in line with inflation, raising the top rate of tax on the nation’s highest earners, diverting the £20 million indyref2 fund to help tackle fuel poverty, and scrapping peak-time rail fares in a six-month trial.
The full Budget document runs to some 150 pages, without including supplementary data published elsewhere, and has sparked a wave of reaction from across Scotland.
