Scottish Tory claims SNP 'cutting funding from Unionist areas'
He said: 'Does the Secretary of State share my view that whatever the budget SNP Scottish Government have, they have cynically and systematically deprived funding from areas that do not support independence, leaving councils like Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders and their health boards struggling to provide basic services?'
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Scottish Secretary Ian Murray responded: 'The whole of Scotland voted against independence in 2014.
'It seems to me that the SNP Government strategy is to starve all of Scotland's public services of the vital funding they require.'
The Conservatives have faced their own allegations of 'pork-barrel politics' – where Tory-supporting areas are given more government support than opposition-supporting ones in a bid to shore up votes.
Writing in 2020 of Boris Johnson's 'Towns Fund', professor of politics Chris Hanretty said: 'There is robust evidence that ministers chose towns so as to benefit the Conservatives in marginal Westminster seats.'
He added: 'Choosing towns to benefit a particular party goes against the seven principles of public life (the 'Nolan principles'), and in particular the obligation to 'take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias'.
Former Tory leader Boris Johnson was accused of pork-barrel politics (Image: Jonathan Brady/PA) 'These decisions should therefore be examined both by the Public Accounts Committee and (since the decisions potentially involve a breach of the Ministerial Code, which incorporates the Nolan principles) by the Cabinet Office upon referral by the Prime Minister.'
In 2023, the SNP raised concerns that levelling up funding in Scotland had disproportionately gone to Tory-supporting areas.
'This is no longer Levelling Up, this is pure naked pork-barrel politics with public money being used to try and buy electoral advantage", then-SNP president Michael Russell said at the time.
Dumfries and Galloway council is currently controlled by the SNP, after the Tory administration collapsed before a no-confidence vote in June.
The Scottish Borders council is controlled by the Conservatives.
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In May, the Accounts Commission warned that all of Scotland's councils were facing a combined budget shortfall of £647 million in 2025/26.
'Whilst councils have partly met this shortfall through service savings and increased charges for services, continuing to use reserves and make one-off savings isn't sustainable,' the commission said.
It further added: 'Capital funding from the Scottish Government is increasing but has not returned to previous levels. Councils remain heavily reliant on borrowing to fund their planned £4.7 billion capital investment in 2025/26.'
The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.
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