Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget “will go down as one of the worst financial interventions in modern history”, the Scottish National party’s Westminster leader has said.
Speaking on the first day of the party’s conference in Aberdeen, Ian Blackford took aim at the pair over the economic consequences of their “fiscal event”. “Only a matter of weeks into their new roles, the disastrous duo of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have crashed the economy, sent the pound plummeting, put pension funds at risk and caused mayhem for mortgage holders,” Blackford said.
He told his party’s conference that Scotland should not be “shackled to the Westminster shambles”. “What was once ‘fairytale economics’ – used to bribe votes from Tory members in the summer – has become everyone else’s nightmare this autumn and winter.
“The truth is, the new prime minister and her new chancellor have made the worst first impression in the history of UK politics. Because the inequality and incompetence of that budget will go down as one of the worst financial interventions in modern history.”
In his address to members, the MP challenged Tory rebels to stand with his party “in stopping any real-terms cuts to benefits and any return to austerity”. He also attacked Labour, describing Keir Starmer’s party as a “Brexit-backing, democracy-denying, Tory-enabling party”.
Invoking the memory of Ian Hamilton KC – one of the group who stole the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey and brought it back to Scotland in 1950 – who died before the conference, Blackford said the SNP had a “clear purpose and a clear path”.
“Ian Hamilton brought home the Stone of Destiny,” he said. “My purpose, friends, is to lead our SNP MPs out of the doors of Westminster for the very last time and come home to our independent nation.
“For Ian Hamilton, for all those who have gone before, for those of us in Scotland today, but most importantly for future generations – let’s finish the job, let’s finish the journey and finally put a finish to Westminster control for good.”
The SNP’s deputy leader, Keith Brown, also took a swipe at the UK government, saying Truss is “singularly unfit for the job”. “The chaos that she has created is no surprise – the only people who ever believed she was fit for No 10 were the very few thousand Tory members who put her there,” he said.
In the only announcement on the first day, Brown told the audience the party would be creating its own “broadcast platform” as it launched a podcast named Scotland’s Voices.
A UK government spokesperson said: “Our sole priority is to secure and drive economic growth for people and their families – delivering jobs, investment and energy security across the whole of the UK.
“People across Scotland want both their governments to be working together on the issues that matter to them and their families, not talking about another independence referendum.”
