MSP hits out at Tory support for '˜free market racketeering'

She says remarks attributed to Chancellor Phillip Hammond suggest a new package of cuts over an entire decade is being prepared in the latest bid to “eliminate the deficit” - which she says could spell hardship lasting until at least 2027.

Ms Mackay said: “The Tories’ obsession with eliminating the deficit is an excuse to continue hacking down the public sector in the UK.

“The public has grown tired of perpetual austerity from the deluded Tory leadership — and indeed many of the UK cabinet even know it.

“When will this obsession the Tory government has with downsizing our public services end?

“The damage they have done is irreversible to the likes of the Royal Mail, when they sold it off under price.

“To continue systematically tearing apart our public sector will only continue to hold back the economy and hammer millions by squeezing family budgets and living standards.

“There is little intent to ‘eliminate the deficit’– the Tories are simply looking to hand over public services to the profiteering private sector, as part of their ideological commitment to free market racketeering.”