Nationalists accused of stifling criticism

NATIONALIST MSPs have been accused of ganging up to silence criticism of Alex Salmond’s government in a report published by a Holyrood committee.

The finance committee report into the recent Budget ignores concerns raised by senior economists about economic strategy, Labour MSPs have claimed.

The report does call for clarity on a number of issues, including the source of government funds and preventive spending.

But committee members John Pentland and Margaret McCulloch have published their own minority report, which warns that the recent spending review “may not support” economic growth and recovery.

They say that senior economists had warned in evidence that the SNP government was relying on an “optimistic” level of income from business rates to balance the Budget – but this was excluded from the final report.