THE Scottish Conservative leadership is using its increased political muscle at Westminster to privately put pressure on Philip Hammond to use his November 22 Budget to “deliver for Scotland” and help speed up the completion of the remaining City Deals for Tayside and Stirling.
It was a year ago in his Autumn Statement that the Chancellor unveiled plans for the City Deals for Tayside, taking in Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth and Kinross, as well as Stirling and Clackmannanshire.
The deals, which involve money from London and Edinburgh as well as local councils and businesses, aim to boost local investment and growth, creating new jobs.
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A month after the General Election, in which the Scottish Conservative representation went from one to 13 MPs, the UK Government announced it had reached agreement with the Scottish Government on the terms of a £1.1 billion City Deal for Edinburgh and South East Scotland.
At present, three other deals have been agreed for Glasgow[£1bn-plus], Aberdeen[£250 million] and Inverness and the Highlands[£310m].
Plus, negotiations are underway and at an early stage on a Growth Deal for the Borderlands, taking in areas like Dumfries and Galloway as well as those in England like Carlisle.
However, senior Whitehall sources confirmed the Chancellor has been coming under intense pressure of late to “deliver for Scotland” by making significant progress on completing the deals covering the Tay Cities Region and Stirling.
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David Mundell, the Scottish Secretary, has made clear at conference that if it were not for the new Scottish Tory contingent at Westminster, Jeremy Corbyn would be in Downing Street.
In his speech at the Conservative conference, Mr Hammond revealed how he had been lobbied hard by Ruth Davidson and her colleagues; the Scottish leader met the Chancellor in Dundee last week when he reiterated his commitment to the Tayside and Stirling deals.
Noting how the increase to 13 Scottish Tory MPs had re-established an assertive Scottish Conservative voice at Westminster, Mr Hammond told conference: “And, believe me, as Chancellor, I have already found out just how assertive.”
During a fringe event, the Scottish Tory leader noted: “As you will have heard in the Chancellor’s speech, he recognised and it sounded as if he slightly bemoaned the amount of lobbying he has had from the Scottish Tory MPs.”
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She explained how if those 13 MPs worked together, in terms of delivering for Scotland, they would be able to deliver a lot more. Ms Davidson then remarked: “I’m looking forward to hearing the Budget in November.”
Later, at a briefing for journalists, the party leader was asked about what she was referring to and replied: “I don’t think you necessarily have to listen to me on this one; the Chancellor was quite clear in his own speech yesterday that the 13 Conservative MPs are not shy in coming forward to make sure they are delivering for Scotland and I am right behind them in the way I have been in discussions with the Treasury every single year. But I am not going to go through subject areas line by line.”
Ms Davidson added: “We are working hard to ensure people understand that this is a UK Government that it is delivering for the whole of the UK and the whole of Scotland.”
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