Sturgeon attacks Westminster over £30bn cuts

Nicola Sturgeon on a visit to New Lanark yesterday. Picture: Sarah Peters

NICOLA Sturgeon has claimed that a “Westminster consensus on cuts” would push 100,000 more children in Scotland into poverty, with a 400 per cent increase in people forced to rely on foodbanks.

The SNP leader said all three of the main Westminster parties are signed up to Chancellor George Osborne’s plans for a further £30 billion of austerity. Ms Sturgeon claimed such cuts would have a “devastating impact on communities” across Scotland, as she made a campaign visit to New Lanark yesterday.

She said: “The Westminster consensus on cuts is having a devastating impact on communities across Scotland – pushing 100,000 more of our children into poverty and forcing more families to have to rely on foodbanks. In a wealthy country like Scotland that is nothing short of a disgrace – and shows exactly why we need a real alternative to the Tory-Labour cuts consensus.

“We already know that the Tories are intent on balancing the books on the backs of the poor, with £12bn of cuts to spending in Scotland planned over the next five years.”