Labour grandee Lord Foulkes: Keir must stop the SNP wasting our money on relentless push for independence

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to crack down on SNP ministers spending taxpayers’ money on independence, overseas embassies and other reserved areas.

Labour grandee Lord George Foulkes called on the new Prime Minister to stop the Scottish Government wasting public money which should be spent on devolved issues it is responsible for.

He also said Scottish Secretary Ian Murray and the Treasury should tell SNP ministers to stop interfering in areas outwith their remit and instead focus on improving ‘neglected’ services in devolved matters.

He also wants the UK’s top civil servant to instruct Scottish Government officials so that they are clear the UK’s responsibility for reserved areas such as foreign affairs and the constitution must be respected.

Mr Murray pledged during the election campaign to step up UK Government efforts to promote ‘Scotland The Brand’ overseas, including through its global trade networks and embassies.

Writing in today’s Mail, Lord Foulkes said the new government needs to stop ‘the wilful and mischievous spending on areas which are not devolved but remain responsibilities reserved to the UK Government’.

He condemned the number of overseas trips by SNP Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Secretary Angus Robertson –nicknamed ‘Airmiles Angus’ – and said the constitutional futures division, which produces ‘pointless papers on aspects of independence’, should be dismantled.

He welcomed Sir Keir’s willingness to work with the Scottish Government on areas like the future of the Grangemouth refinery – but said it will ‘not be so easy to tell the Scottish Government to abandon areas for which they have no responsibility so that they can run more effectively devolved areas which have been neglected by them’.

In a plea to Scottish Secretary Mr Murray, Lord Foulkes said: ‘He, together with the Treasury, should make it clear to the Scottish Government they must stick to the areas for which responsibility has been devolved.

‘The Cabinet Secretary must back this up by ensuring that the Scottish Permanent Secretary, John-Paul Marks, is aware of the Government’s insistence that the UK’s responsibility for reserved areas is respected.

‘And the 37 Scottish Labour MPs should make it clear Scotland has two governments and they must each co-operate but also respect their own areas of competence and responsibility.’

According to analysis by Scotland in Union, the total cost of Holyrood’s constitutional futures division, which is responsible for writing the Building a New Scotland series of papers on independence, has been £2.97million during the current parliamentary term.

The SNP government’s Supreme Court defeat on the power to hold an independence referendum also cost the public purse £251,729. It has also established nine foreign offices across Europe and North America.

Lord Foulkes condemned the expansion of the overseas offices, which he described as ‘pretend embassies’.

He said: ‘The First Minister said if he obtained a majority of seats in the election it would be a mandate for independence.

‘Well, he spectacularly failed on that test and on the percentage of votes too, where pro-independence parties achieved only 34 per cent.

‘The message from the people of Scotland is clear that the campaign for independence should be off the agenda for the foreseeable future and the Scottish Government should get on with the areas for which it has responsibility and has manifestly failed.

‘So the constitution should be removed from Robertson’s title and he should transfer funds to culture where the budget has been drastically cut.’

Last July, Simon Case, the head of the UK civil service, said a probe had been launched into officials being ordered to work on blueprints for independence. He described the spending as ‘unusual and a bit worrying’.

He also said the civil service could refuse to work on any area reserved to Westminster.

In his first visit to Scotland as Prime Minister on Sunday, Sir Keir said he and First Minister John Swinney agreed they can ‘work constructively together’ and ‘reset’ relations between the two governments.

During the election campaign, Labour pledged to use the UK’s global trade networks and embassy reach to promote Scottish businesses, boost exports and attract investment to create jobs and growth.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The First Minister and Prime Minister discussed a range of areas where both governments can work together, based on renewed respect for the devolution settlement.’

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