THERESA May has claimed the SNP Government is “betraying” Scotland by introducing higher taxes.
In a fiery Prime Minister’s Questions, she clashed with Ian Blackford, the Nationalist leader, who accused her of “blackmailing” Britain by not ruling out a no-deal Brexit here and now otherwise 100,000 jobs in Scotland would be under threat.
Declaring how there were just two ways to take a no-deal outcome off the table; one, which she would not do, ie scrap Article 50 and the other was her deal.
READ MORE: Theresa May attacks SNP over workplace parking tax
Addressing Nationalist benches, Mrs May declared: “It is no good SNP members shaking their heads or muttering from a sedentary position, they need to face up to the fact that we will not revoke Article 50 because we are leaving the European Union, so the only way to take no-deal off the table is to vote for the deal.”
Mr Blackford insisted there were other options such as putting back Brexit Day and having a People’s Vote to let voters decide if they wanted her deal or to remain in the EU.
He urged the PM to look at the faces of her colleagues and “end this Brexit madness” by ruling out a no-deal scenario immediately.
The SNP leader then challenged Scottish MPs in other parties, saying: “MPs from Scotland must now decide; will they stand up for Scotland or will they stand up with the extreme Brexiteers on the Tory benches?” If they did the latter, he argued, they would be betraying Scotland.
But Mrs May hit back, saying to Tory cheers: “I will tell him what has betrayed voters in Scotland: an SNP Scottish Government who have raised income tax so that people in Scotland are paying more in income tax than people anywhere else in the UK; an SNP Scottish Government who have broken their manifesto promise and raised the cap on annual council tax increases for homeowners; and an SNP Scottish Government under whom people are facing the prospect of an extra tax for parking their car at their workplace.”
READ MORE: Sajid Javid stuns MPs by backing bid to secure EU citizens' rights after no-deal after Theresa May dismissed it
She added: “And all of that in a year in which the Scottish Government’s block grant from Westminster went up. The people betraying the people of Scotland are the SNP Scottish Government.”
Earlier, the PM locked horns with Jeremy Corbyn, who challenged her to explain whether it was a "shambolic" Brexit or her "failed austerity policies" to blame for a predicted slowdown in economic growth.
"The Bank of England forecasts that growth for this year will be the slowest in over a decade. Does the Prime Minister blame her shambolic handling of Brexit or her failed austerity policies for this damaging failure?" asked the Labour leader.
Mrs May pointed to a report, which suggested the UK would have higher growth than Germany in the coming year before defending the Government's economic record.
“Let us just say what we see in the economy under a Conservative Government: more people in work than ever before; unemployment at its lowest level since the 1970s; borrowing this year at its lowest level for 17 years; and the largest monthly surplus on record. Conservatives delivering more jobs, healthier finances and an economy fit for the future.”
But Mr Corbyn pressed the point further, noting the Bank of England forecasts suggested there was a “one-in-four chance of the UK economy dipping into recession”.
The PM replied: “What do we know would be the worst thing for the economy in this country? It would be a run on the pound, capital flight and £1,000 billion of borrowing under a Labour Government.”
To a chorus of “up!” from the Labour benches, Mr Corbyn listed a series of types of poverty increases.
"People on low incomes are getting poorer where those at the top are getting richer...Are any of these burning injustices a priority for the Prime Minister?" he asked.
But Mrs May denied low earners were getting poorer, telling the Labour leader: "It's not the case that what he says about the low earners...The lowest earners have seen the highest rise in their pay for 20 years as a result of the introduction of the national living wage."
She added to Tory roars: "It's working people who always pay the price of Labour."
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