AN SNP minister has been accused of using “debunked” figures for the level of cost-of-living support put forward by the Scottish Government.
The Scottish LibDems have demanded that SNP Business Minister Ivan McKee apologise for claiming the Scottish Government has spent £3 billion to support the cost-of-living crisis.
Last month, the independent Scottish Parliament Information Centre criticised the Scottish Government for including a range of measures and the attached funding, which pre-date the present cost-of-living crisis in its commitments.
A briefing note states that “a list of measures announced specifically in response to the current increase in inflation would be quite a bit shorter” and adds that the value of measures introduced since October 2021 is actually only £490m.
Appearing on BBC Good Morning Scotland, Mr McKee said the Scottish Government has "put £3bn into support", adding: "It's very important also, as I say, to recognise what we've done, the £3bn that we've already put in".
Scottish LibDems finance spokesperson John Ferry said: "Ivan McKee tells us he has a background in business, so he should at least have some understanding of the importance of accurate accounting.
"Some of the policies that they included to pad out this now debunked figure date back to days of the Lib-Lab coalition.
"The minister should apologise and withdraw his claims.”
He added: “This SNP-Green government is not doing nearly enough to tackle soaring energy bills and the cost-of-living crisis. We need to get more money to families and kickstart an emergency insulation programme to bring down energy bills.
“Scottish Liberal Democrats have already proposed a plan to do this, while the SNP-Green administration has done nothing but seek to use the crisis for yet more constitutional sabre rattling.”
The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
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