RUSSELL Findlay has suggested Scotland needs its own Elon Musk in order to cut SNP “waste” in the public sector.
US president-elect Donald Trump announced the Twitter/X owner would be brought into his Government to cut state bureaucracy and inefficiency.
Musk (below) has recently claimed that Reform UK will win the next General Election and previously came in for criticism for suggesting there would be a “civil war” amid summer riots in England last year.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Findlay suggested a business leader such as Sir Tom Hunter could take on a role similar to Musk.
He said anyone brought in for such a role would “probably be so staggered at the scale of waste and incompetence that it would be like shooting fish in a barrel”.
Findlay said First Minister John Swinney lacked both the “bravery” and the “common sense” to take action, saying he was “throwing money around like a drunken sailor on leave”.
He further claimed that Scotland "cannot continue to afford to keep growing the state with an ever shrinking tax base" and the SNP Government's long-standing ban on compulsory redundancies must be scrapped.
Swinney previously slammed the Scottish Tory leader for a £950 million “gaping hole” in tax cut proposals he made.
The Scottish Tory leader told The Telegraph: “Maybe we need a MacMusk, someone who would look at the blob.
“It doesn’t need to be drastic – it’s modest and sensible. It’s actually the right thing to do, the responsible thing to do for any government.”
Musk is to lead a “department of government efficiency” in Trump’s new government.
When asked who could perform the function in Scotland, Findlay suggested one of his own MSP colleagues at Holyrood or party chair Alasdair Locke.
Responding to the comments made by Findlay, Scotland’s Public Finance Minister Ivan McKee said: “Through our public service reform programmes, the Scottish Government has already delivered savings of more than £200 million over the past two years.
“We have also delivered reductions in core Scottish Government staff levels of 3% in the past year. This work will continue.”
He added: “Coming from a business background myself, I am seized of the need to deliver excellent public services in the most effective and efficient manner.”
Findlay’s comments come as he approaches 100 days as Scottish Tory leader.
The National revealed earlier this week how polling from Find Out Now predicted the Scottish Conservatives would return just 16 MSPs despite having 31 in Holyrood as it stands.
