Unions slam SNP's 'tartan Tory' budget

Trade unions lined up to kick Mr Swinney's claim that the public-sector pay freeze was over as a result of his "modest" proposal of a 1 per cent pay rise in Thursday's budget statement.

Only the Tories and bosses organisation Scottish CBI appeared to support the Budget.

Memorably branding Mr Swinney (pictured) as "Osborne in a kilt," PCS Scottish secretary Lynn Henderson said: "The 1 per cent cap on pay increases announced by Mr Swinney is the same 1 per cent cap announced by George Osborne with a tartan cover over it.

"This is woefully inadequate to redress the lost income and hardship our members have suffered after two years of a 0 per cent pay freeze."

Unison Scottish secretary Mike Kirby continued the assault by pointing out that Mr Swinney's 1 per cent was "no guarantee of a pay rise for tens of thousands of council workers."

Mr Kirby said: "Unless local government is funded to pay even this limited increase, there is no guarantee that the largest group of public-sector workers, in local government, will receive a pay rise.

"That has been the case for the last couple of years."

But Mr Swinney defended his budget, saying that the Scottish government was "not following the strategy" of the Westminster government.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Friday Mr Swinney said: "In the UK under the Conservative and Liberal administration, there is no guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for public-sector workers covered by the government remit.

"There is no provision for a living wage which protects people on lower incomes in our society."

STUC general secretary Grahame Smith acknowledged that the Westminster government's economic strategy placed the Scottish government in a very difficult position - and that Mr Swinney had "endeavoured to do what he can to stimulate the Scottish economy."

But Mr Smith added: "It is disappointing that Mr Swinney has followed George Osborne's public-sector pay policy almost to the letter."

The Scottish CBI described the Budget as "positive" but said the finance minister had missed an opportunity for "public service reform, through contracting out the delivery of a far wider range of public services to the private sector."