Andrea Leadsom '˜itching' to cut Scotland's budget, says SNP

Tory leadership candidate Andrea Leadsom is 'itching' to cut Scotland's budget, according to the SNP.

Andrea Leadsom is in the running to be the next UK Prime Minister. Picture: PA

Mrs Leadsom is currently battling fellow Conservative minister Theresa May to replace David Cameron as the next Prime Minister.

Comments made by Mrs Leadsom regarding the Union back in 2009 have given SNP MSP Michael Russell cause for concern. Writing in a blog, Leadsom expressed her incredulity that Scotland should enjoy free University tuition, saying it was “a nail in the coffin of the Union.”

Mr Russell believes Scotland must get assurances from both candidates that the fiscal framework devolved to Holyrood in the wake of the independence referendum will be respected.

He said: “We know that elements of the Tory party have for years been itching for the opportunity to hammer Scotland’s budget even further.

“Andrea Leadsom is just the latest senior Tory to raise questions over Scotland’s funding.

“When the choice to be next prime minister is between Andrea Leadsom and someone with the right-wing track record of Theresa May, it’s clear that whoever wins, Scotland will lose.”

Mrs May, in the same year as Mrs Leadsom’s comments, questioned why Scots would want to leave the Union given the “unbelievable perks”.

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