BORIS Johnson will "never be forgiven" by Scottish residents for the economic damage caused by Covid-19 if he does not step in to help.
That was the warning given to the Prime Minister by the SNP's Ian Blackford at today's Prime Minister's Questions.
The MP, and SNP Westminster leader, warned that Mr Johnson must extend the furlough scheme before it comes to an end this month, and do more yo help people facing a "Tory winter of mass unemployment created by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor."
He said: "We know what the Prime Minister’s Tory colleagues are saying – the Prime Minister’s next job could be on the backbenches, he just doesn’t know it yet.
“If the Prime Minister won’t U-turn on his plans to scrap furlough, does he realise he will never, not ever, be forgiven for the damage he is just about to cause to people up and down Scotland?”
Boris Johnson said that the government was "continuing to support people across the whole of the UK." adding that there had been "many billions of pounds of Barnett consequentials, at least £5 billion in Barnett consequentials for Scotland alone."
He then added: "One thing I will congratulate him on is the Scottish nationalist party’s support for the tiered approach, which I think is still their policy, unlike the party opposite.
"At least they’re showing some vestige of consistency in their normal gelatinous behaviour.”
Keir Starmer challenged the Prime Minister over why he ignored the advice of his chief scientists in the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), who recommended he introduce a circuit-break regime weeks ago,
The leader of the opposition said a circuit-break is in the “national interest”, adding: “We are at a tipping point, time is running out, maybe he can seize the moment and answer a question – this morning the Telegraph quotes senior Government sources saying the chances of the Prime Minister backing a circuit-break in the next two weeks are about 80%.
“Is that right? And if it is, why doesn’t he do it now, save lives, fix testing and protect the NHS?”
Mr Johnson replied: ““I rule out nothing, of course, in combating the virus but we’re going to do it with the local, regional approach that can drive down and will drive down the virus if it is properly implemented.”
He also accused the Labour leader of treating the pandemic as a "good crisis" for his party and "one they wish to exploit" while the Conservative party "see this as a national crisis that we are going to turn around.”
Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain secured a victory during the session when she urged the Prime Minister to work on integrating different contact tracing apps throughout the four nations of the UK.
The North East Fife MP explained that when she travels back home she will have to switch off her English test and trace app, and switch on the Scottish one.
She said: "I entered Parliament this morning and I checked in using the contact tracing app and when I return to Fife on the train tomorrow, I will need to manually switch to the Scottish app as it doesn’t happen automatically.
"We’re facing a second wave of infections across the UK so Test and Trace is even more critical.
“So given the Prime Minister’s support for a four-nations approach, can I ask the Prime Minister what engagement has taken place on app inter-operability? Because that is critical, particularly in border communities.”
Mr Johnson replied: “Well I am very grateful to (Ms Chamberlain) for pointing that out. I will make sure that there is inter-operability. I will do what I can do to ensure there is inter-operability across all four nations.
“There is a slightly different approach, as she knows, in Northern Ireland already. But in the bulk of our approach we have so far taken… there is much more in common than sets us apart.”
MP for Glasgow North East Anne McLaughlin also managed to get the Prime Minister to agree to speed up the processing of claims for people who had been mis-sold green home deals.
She cited an example of an 83-year-old woman in her constituency, who would have to live to 106 years old to pay off a loan for a green homes product.
Ms McLaughlin said the speed with which the business department were dealing with the claims was too slow, and urged the PM to intervene.
He responded that the SNP MP's point was "spot on" and added: "We must accelerate the process by which these complaints are are upheld and and dealt with and compensation is is delivered, if only because that is the only way to build public confidence in all the retrofitting, all the installation, all the improvements to our homes that we need to deliver across the whole of the country as part of our green Industrial Revolution."
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