Scotland's new Finance Secretary should realise soaring benefits bill is source of shame, not pride

Jenny Gilruth was appointed Deputy First Minster and Finance Secretary this week | PA

Jenny Gilruth, Scotland’s new Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary, has refused to apologise for the soaring benefits bill, saying she was “very proud to support those most in need”.

The problem, however, is that social security spending is already at £7.4 billion a year and is expected to rise to £9.2bn by 2030/31, contributing to the looming £5bn black hole in the Scottish Government’s finances, which she is presumably concerned about.

More than half the welfare bill goes on adult disability payments, which are expected to be paid to a million Scots by 2031 – one in five of the population. Some may question the need for so many payments, but one reason is that about one in ten people, or perhaps more, are on an NHS waiting list.

READ MORE: Swinney's new deputy denies benefits spending is 'too high'

Economic growth a ‘defining priority’

If the health service operated as it should, which is the SNP’s responsibility, large numbers of people currently too sick to work would be contributing to the economy and paying taxes, not claiming benefits. We are confident we know which one the majority of the people concerned would prefer.

Another reason behind high social security spending is, quite obviously, the lacklustre state of the economy – another Scottish Government responsibility. As we report today, business leaders are calling on John Swinney to make economic growth the “defining priority” of his government and have suggested a five-point plan to put Scotland “firmly back on a path to prosperity”.

READ MORE: Business rates must be reformed 'as quickly as possible', says new SNP MSP

However, ridiculous increases in business rates – by as much as 470 per cent in one case – suggest their pleas may fall on deaf ears. How such a situation has been allowed to occur beggars belief.

Scotland’s private companies – almost all small to medium-sized firms – are the ultimate sources of the wealth upon which most public spending depends and ministers should be bending over backwards to help them. If they prosper, so will the country.

People who fall on hard times need help, but the staggering size of the total benefits bill is a sign of how badly the SNP has been running the country and, as such, should be a source of shame, not pride.