First Minister’s Questions: Labour on the offensive over Scotland’s unemployment figures

Scottish Labour has called on the Scottish Government to use more than £500m to tackle unemployment in Scotland.

At First Minister’s Questions, Johann Lamont urged Alex Salmond to spend “every coin” of the extra cash she said was coming to Scotland as result of the budget.

The Scottish Labour leader also called for a “serious plan to create jobs”.

The plea came a day after figures showed the number of people out of work in Scotland rose by 19,000 over three months.

The increase between September and November last year takes the unemployed total to 231,000.

Mr Salmond accepted that the unemployment figures are “extremely serious”.

But he argued that Holyrood did not have all the economic powers necessary to tackle the problem.

Ms Lamont told him 200 Scots a day had lost their jobs in the last three months, adding: “The First Minister’s response to the serious situation these families face is ‘it wisnae me’.”

She continued: “This is a man who takes himself seriously, we know that. It’s about time he took his job seriously, because what concerns me is not just his breathtaking complacency about these horrendous unemployment figures, but the fact he clearly did not see it coming.”

The Labour leader added Scotland was due more than £500 million extra from Westminster as a consequence of budget decisions there, and demanded: “Will the First Minister give us an assurance that every coin of that money will be spent in tackling unemployment and giving our young people some hope for the future?”

However Mr Salmond told her the bulk of the extra cash due to Scotland could not be spent immediately.

He said: “The people of Scotland know where the economic power lies at the present moment, that is precisely why they are demanding economic powers from Westminster.

“The classic illustration would be in the £500 million figure that Johann Lamont has just indicated to this chamber - is she not aware that two thirds of that spending specified by Westminster is directed into the second part of this comprehensive spending review.”

Mr Salmond said: “We believe that Scotland needs investment in the economy now. That is precisely why, along with the Labour First Minister of Wales, we have been jointly calling for the change in economic course by the UK Government which would allow us to deploy these funds.”

View the Scotsman’s live blog on today’s FMQs over at The Steamie.