Around £500 million will be slashed from the Scottish Government budget, John Swinney has today announced.
The SNP finance secretary warned MSPs "this is just the beginning of hard choices" that would have to be made if inflation continues to soar.
Swinney said it would cost Holyrood £700 million to settle larger-than-expected pay settlements with public sector workers after the country was rocked by a series of railway and refuse collection strikes.
