JOHN Swinney yesterday signalled Nats will continue to hammer Scots with higher taxes — but blamed the Tories and Labour.
The First Minister warned Rishi Sunak’s bid to scrap stamp duty for first-time home buyers would lead to more bill rises and spending cuts.
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He accused the PM of living in “fantasy land” and blasted Labour’s “conspiracy of silence” on spending challenges facing the UK.
And the SNP chief refused to commit to following Mr Sunak’s lead by slashing Land and Buildings Transaction Tax — Holyrood’s equivalent of stamp duty.
Blasting Mr Sunak, he said: “We’re now in the desperate throes of just frankly throwing anything out there that will try salvage some votes.
“The implications of getting rid of stamp duty will be something like about £3billion in spending cuts to add to the £18billion that’s already coming.
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“Just how much pressure does Rishi Sunak want to put on to public service?
“It is fantasy stuff, fantasy land.”
More than one million Scots earning above £28,867 — including nurses, cops and teachers — face paying more in tax than their counterparts in England.
And Mr Swinney signalled the tax gap will extend beyond the General Election to pay for decisions “made in Westminster.”
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He insisted: “If Westminster decides austerity is going to be the order of the day, that gets passed on to Scotland.”
But he was accused of “hypocrisy” by Labour bigwigs, as polls last night showed Sir Keir Starmer’s party retains a commanding lead in the race to No10 on July 4.
Opinium’s survey had Labour on 42 per cent across the UK with Tories trailing on 24 per cent ahead of Reform UK (12 per cent), Lib Dems (eight), Greens (six) and SNP (three).
Labour Shadow Scotland Secretary Ian Murray said: “The SNP has butchered funding for local government, taking Tory austerity and amplifying it.
“John Swinney was the architect of austerity for council services across Scotland. The SNP have no credibility and no vision but Labour can deliver the change Scotland needs.”
Scots Tory finance spokeswoman Liz Smith piled in: “John Swinney needs to look closer to home for why services are under such strain.
“The SNP’s catastrophic mismanagement has blown a £1.5billion hole in Scotland’s finances which has left our services overwhelmed and at breaking point.”
