Scottish Conservative shadow secretary for business, economic growth and tourism Murdo Fraser said: “The brass neck of the SNP is breathtaking. They have the nerve to pose as a friend of Scottish business when they are crippling firms across the country by failing to pass on the 75% rates relief available to businesses south of the border.
“The funding to deliver this support to Scottish businesses has been made available by the UK Chancellor and yet successive SNP finance secretaries – Kate Forbes, John Swinney and Shona Robison – have opted to withhold it from Scottish firms.
“Kate Forbes, without a hint of self-awareness, is calling on the UK Government to deliver a VAT cut to help the very tourist and hospitality businesses that she and the SNP have left floundering. It’s shameless.
“Hardworking Scots, business groups, the British Medical Association and the British Dental Association will be equally dismayed to hear Kate Forbes claim that the tax gap between Scotland and the rest of the UK is not yet too high.
“Under the SNP anyone earning over £28,850 is paying more tax in Scotland than they would south of the border, and these organisations have warned that it’s already damaging economic growth and our ability to recruit and retain key workers including NHS doctors and dentists.
“For someone who claims to be economically savvy, Kate Forbes is either wilfully blind or in denial.”