Forsyth in attack on Tory MSPs

Published on Saturday 9 February 2008 18:03

FORMER Scottish Secretary Lord Forsyth has attacked Conservative MSPs for backing the SNP in last week's budget, warning Britain now faced the real prospect of "disintegration".

The Conservative peer and opponent of devolution said it was "extraordinary" Scots Tory leader Annabel Goldie had decided to back First Minister Alex Salmond's spending plans.

He fears populist measures proposed by the SNP – such as free prescription charges – will lead to resentment in England which will eventually lead to more support for separation.

Forsyth was speaking as he backed moves to reform the Barnett Formula – the 30-year-old scheme which calculates the sums of money given to different parts of the UK.

Forsyth said: "We are seeing the real prospect of the disintegration of the UK. Even the Conservative MSPs voted for the nationalist budget... which is extraordinary."

The call for the reform of the Barnett Formula is being led by its namesake Lord Barnett. He told the House of Lords last week: "There is an urgency about this, because if something is not seen to be done soon, people in England will start to demand separation."

However, one Scots Tory MSP who supported the SNP following concessions over tax cuts, drugs policy and on police numbers, dismissed Forsyth last night as "a dinosaur".