The Scottish Government has allocated 20 million British pounds for next year’s independence referendum.
On Tuesday, Finance Minister Kate Forbes presented a multi-year review of the cost of resources in Holyrood.
In the 79-page accompanying document, funding for Scotland’s independence vote costs £ 20 million, according to the summary of the Constitution, foreign affairs and culture.
READ MORE: Inflation has limited the increase in funding for the Scottish government, says Kate Forbes to MSP
Cabinet Secretary Angus Robertson was in Brussels when the announcement was made as part of a trip to strengthen ties with the European Union.
The review of the costs of “holding a referendum on independence” identified it as one of the areas that the Scottish Government will support in the coming years.
The 2014 independence referendum cost £ 15.8 million, an increase of £ 2.1 million more than expected. Additional funds were needed due to high turnout.
A table in the Scottish Government’s resource cost overview shows that £ 20 million has been allocated to indyref2
After the pledge of funding was unveiled, SNP policy chief Tony Giuliano told The National: “The people of Scotland are voting in favor of an independence referendum in this House – and it is up to the government to keep that promise.
“It will never be the right time for the Westminster parties to hold a referendum on independence – yet they continued with the disastrous Brexit in the midst of a pandemic that has made our country poorer.
“The Scottish Government is spending a staggering £ 600 million each year to mitigate the worst Tory policies. Just think what Scotland could have done if we hadn’t been tied to Westminster control.
“With independence, we can escape corruption in Westminster and the Brexit disaster and return to the European Union, which is seven times the size of the United Kingdom.
SNP political leader Giuliano said the government was fulfilling its election promise
Following the news, Labor and Tories clashed with Forbes and the Scottish government to provide money for the upcoming referendum.
Following a statement from Forbes at Holyrood, Scottish Labor spokesman Daniel Johnson said: “Scots are about to be hit by the biggest drop in cash since records began, but the SNP has nothing to offer but empty rhetoric rotation.
“Fifteen years of unsuccessful economic policy of the SNP have brought us to this point, and this terrible update promises more than the same.
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“They are cutting back on economic development as our economy falls off a scale and loses £ 20 million in a split referendum, while cutting local services to the bone.
“Their poor economic governance has led Scottish wages to rise more slowly than the rest of the UK, making the cost of living crisis even more painful and draining money from the state coffers.”
Meanwhile, the Scottish Tories’ financial spokeswoman Liz Smith called on the Scottish Government to bring the income tax in line with the United Kingdom.
She added: “And they need to end the economically devastating referendum on independence from the masses in order to finally prioritize Scotland’s economic growth.”
Greer says Labor “doesn’t understand how democracy works”
Scottish Greens MP Ross Greer emphasized that both his party and the SNP have committed to holding indyref2 as part of their 2021 manifestos.
“Our parties together have won more votes than the three anti-referendum parties combined, which is the normal measure of who wins elections,” he said.
“Our shared commitment to a referendum was reaffirmed in the August 2021 Butte House agreement that brought the Greens into government.
“The Scottish Government has a clear mandate to fund this referendum, and through it the people of Scotland will determine our future. It’s really quite simple. ”
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A SNP spokesman said: “The SNP was elected a little over a year ago with a cast-iron mandate to hold a referendum on independence and will fulfill that commitment in the manifesto.
“Scottish Labor has jumped into bed with the Tories in councils across Scotland and continues to side with the Tories in denying the democratic aspirations of the Scottish people.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “The Scottish Government has a clear mandate to hold a referendum on independence and is committed to doing so once the Covid-19 crisis is over and, if Covid allows, within the first half of this House.
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