HUMZA Yousaf was yesterday told he had a “brass neck” to visit an enterprise agency weeks after slashing its budget.
The First Minister hailed Scottish Enterprise’s new “mission” at the Verlume battery factory in Aberdeen.
It was hit with a £40million cut in the SNP’s December Budget to help tackle a £1.5billion financial black hole caused by public sector pay deals and welfare spending.
Scottish Tory business spokesman Murdo Fraser said Mr Yousaf had “some brass neck” to “boast” about backing jobs and enterprise after the cash hit.
He added: “The SNP has earmarked tens of millions of cuts for Scottish Enterprise, a bitter blow at a time when Scotland’s economy is already sluggish and the SNP are hitting hard-pressed Scots with further tax increases.”
On the visit with Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray, Mr Yousaf said: “Scottish Enterprise has an important role to play in driving the energy transition and advancing our vision of a fair, green and growing economy.”
But Mr Fraser added: “As long as he’s imposing cuts, his warm words will fall on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, the SNP face a ‘major setback’ at the next General Election, with Labour benefiting from a slump in support for Humza Yousaf’s party, pollsters predicted yesterday.
A YouGov survey of 14,000 voters across the UK suggests a Tory electoral wipeout similar to the one seen in 1997 when Tony Blair swept to power as Labour Prime Minister.
It would see the Conservatives hold on to just 169 seats, while Labour would win a thumping majority with 385 MPs.
Most read in The Scottish Sun
And in Scotland, a return to “multi-party politics” is anticipated, following almost a decade of near total dominance by the SNP, who could lose almost half of its current group of 43 MPs, retaining just 25 – with Labour making a major comeback.
