CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves has been met with disbelief after claiming that a Tory government “cover up” hid a £20 billion shortfall in the UK’s budget – despite repeated warnings from experts and the SNP which said exactly that.
The Sunday papers carried widespread reports that Labour are planning significant cuts to infrastructure projects to make up for a £20bn “black hole” which they claim was concealed by the Conservatives.
Appearing on the BBC, Environment Secretary Steve Reed claimed Labour were “going into our departments and finding additional pressures ... that nobody knew about”. He echoed Reeves and claimed the Tories "had not disclosed" the extent of the funding gaps.
"We are going into our departments and finding additional pressures... that nobody knew about" Environment Secretary Steve Reed says the new government are inheriting funding gaps the Conservative government "had not disclosed"#BBCLauraK https://t.co/DM9e02dghy pic.twitter.com/EVYejvzRB6
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) July 28, 2024
Also on the BBC, Tory MP Alicia Kearns said the panel had been “laughing” at some of Reed’s comments, accusing him of aiming to “lie” and “pretend that they’ve suddenly found these big holes”.
SNP depute Westminster leader Pete Wishart quipped: "The Tories 'covered it up' so well that it was predicted by practically everybody and detailed by the IFS ..."
In a press release, the SNP have further pointed to quotations from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) from before the General Election which undermine Labour’s claims.
In late June, IFS director Paul Johnson shared comments from a Labour frontbencher which claimed the party may enter government to find public finances in a more dire state than the Tories had let on.
Johnson responded: "Oh dear, oh dear. The old ‘we may open the books and discover the situation is even worse’. The books are wide open, fully transparent. That really won't wash.”
Last week, Johnson reiterated his point, writing on social media: "It won't wash. They can't claim not to have known what they were taking on."
Direct quote from me! I agree. It won't wash. They can't claim not to have known what they were taking on.
— Paul Johnson (@PJTheEconomist) July 22, 2024
The IFS had said in April that, by 2029-2030, the UK government would have to find £20bn per year in order to avoid cuts to day-to-day spending, and £18bn per year to avoid cuts to public investment.
The SNP repeatedly pointed to these figures during the General Election campaign, with First Minister John Swinney urging Labour to explain where the cuts would come from in early June.
Now, the SNP have highlighted how their warnings were repeatedly dismissed, pointing to quotes from senior Labour figures including Reeves, Keir Starmer, Ian Murray ,and Anas Sarwar.
Sarwar had claimed the SNP were spreading "misinformation and lies," while Scottish Secretary Murray accused them of "peddling mince".
Wishart said Labour must have been "confined to a bubble unable to communicate or absorb simple information" in order to have missed analysis pointing to a multi-billion-pound funding gap.
He told The National: "It was convenient for Labour to present this myth of no more austerity and no more taxes to get elected. Hard reality awaits them now.
"We warned the Scottish people of what was ahead and it is now up to Labour to deal with this in line with the promises they have made."
And Dave Doogan, the SNP’s economy spokesperson at Westminster, said: “People in Scotland voted for change at Westminster. They didn’t vote for cuts to hospitals, railways and roads. They didn’t vote to push more children into poverty – and they certainly didn’t vote for another decade of Westminster austerity cuts imposed by a Labour government.
“The SNP repeatedly warned the Labour Party that their fixation with copying damaging Tory spending plans and fiscal rules would mean around £18bn of cuts or tax rises. Labour denied it throughout the election – but now they admit the cuts will be even deeper.
“Rachel Reeves is repeating the same failed austerity arguments made by former Tory chancellor George Osborne. She must not break the Labour Party’s election promise that there will be no cuts. Instead, she must deliver the major funding boost that the NHS and public services need.”
According to reports in the Sunday Times, Chancellor Reeves is considering swingeing cuts to infrastructure projects, with HS2’s connection to central London on the line.
The A27 Arundel bypass in West Sussex, the tunnel under Stonehenge, and the Tories’ “New Hospital Programme” are also on the chopping block, reports say.
The SNP highlighted comments by Andrew Sentance, the former director of economic affairs at the CBI (Confederation of British Industry), who said: “Labour’s fiscal rules allow them to borrow to fund capital spending. So why is today’s speculation about cutting capital projects to plug the alleged £20bn ‘black hole’?
“It is utter fiscal nonsense – even less coherent than Tory economic policies, which is saying something!”
Doogan added: “If the Labour government takes the axe to our public services, they will be breaking their word and failing to deliver the change people in Scotland voted for.
“The SNP agree Britain is broken after fourteen years of Tory austerity – but the answer doesn’t lie in imposing even more Westminster cuts and Brexit, which are leading causes of the crisis in the UK.
“You can’t cut your way to more hospitals or better services – and you can’t grow the economy, and build a country fit for the future, if you slash infrastructure investment.
“The SNP will work with Labour to ensure that the promise of change is honoured. If they fail, we will hold them to account and do everything we can to defend Scotland’s interests.”
