TWEEDDALE politicians have clashed in their views on Rishi Sunak’s autumn Budget.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer unveiled spending plans in the House of Commons on Wednesday (October 27).

David Mundell, Conservative MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, says the Budget will “help support families, businesses and public services”.

However, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, Christine Grahame, of the SNP, says it will leave families in the Borders “hundreds of pounds worse off next year”.

Mr Sunak revealed that funding will rise by an average of £4.6bn for Scottish Government.

Meanwhile, the Universal Credit taper rate will be brought down from 63 per cent to 55 per cent no later than December 1.

On the Budget, Mr Mundell said: “It is extremely welcome news that fuel duty is to remain frozen, especially just now when family budgets are already under so much pressure.

“Over the last 12 years since the freeze on fuel duty was first introduced, I have argued for its extension and it currently saves the average driver £10 every time they fill up.

“In a rural area, fuel costs are always higher so this further freeze announced by the chancellor will be welcomed by people and businesses across our local communities.”

He added: “The chancellor’s announcement of a £150 million fund to help thousands of small and medium-sized Scottish firms recover from the pandemic is also good news.

“The UK Government’s furlough scheme helped save hundreds of thousands of jobs during the pandemic.

“Now this fund will help small businesses in Scotland grow back even stronger and I hope to see it benefit companies here in Tweeddale once the full details are announced. And it is particularly welcome that through the Barnett formula, the block grant to help support public services in Scotland is to increase by £4.6 billion, which is the largest block grant since the creation of the Scottish Parliament.

“With these greatly increased resources at its disposal, local people will be looking to the Scottish Government for a much greater level of investment in our area than has been the case over recent years.

“Overall, this is a budget to help support families, businesses and public services, and I now want to see action from the Scottish Government to use the biggest ever block grant at its disposal to make greater investment in local roads, infrastructure and other services here in Tweeddale.”

However, following Mr Sunak’s announcement Ms Grahame criticised the spending plans.

She said: “What the Tory UK Government has outlined today does not meet the ambition needed to build a fair and sustainable recovery and to tackle the cost of living crisis. It’s painfully clear that there will be no fair recovery from the pandemic under Westminster control.

“This Tory Budget fails Scotland as a whole and doesn’t go anywhere near supporting people in the Borders, who are being hit by an energy crisis, a Brexit crisis, a labour shortages crisis and an inflation crisis under Westminster control.

“The UK Government Budget is leaving families in the Borders hundreds of pounds worse off next year due to Tory cuts, tax hikes and the soaring cost of Brexit. It’s little wonder that, in May’s election, the people of Scotland voted overwhelmingly for a different future when they gave the SNP the highest share of the vote since the dawn of devolution and a clear mandate for an independence referendum – independence is the only way to keep Scotland safe from Tory cuts.”