Rishi Sunak was sent in to battle for the union today as he made his first visit to Scotland as Chancellor.
He was the latest minister to head north of the border in recent weeks as Boris Johnson attempts to cut off support for Nicola Sturgeon and independence in the wake of Brexit and coronavirus.
He played up the Treasury’s help for Scotland during the pandemic economic collapse as he visited Glasgow, just weeks after Mr Johnson and other Cabinet ministers headed to the country.
Recent polls have suggested a majority support for independence for Scotland, which overwhelmingly voted against Brexit in 2016.
And elections for the Scottish Parliament next year are set to give a major sign of the strength of feeling.
Mr Sunak today highlighted the amount of money paid out to Scottish firms as well as the furlough scheme for jobs in Scotland so far.
The Treasury said UK Government schemes to support businesses recovering from coronavirus have paid out £2 billion in Scotland. The loan schemes have assisted some 65,000 businesses across Scotland.
But Mr Sunak justified the winding down of the Job Retention Scheme (JRS).
Mr Sunak played up the Treasury’s help for Scotland during the coronavirus economic collapse as he visited Glasgow
Mr Sunak is by far the most popular senior Tory among Scots, a new poll suggested today, with a net positive rating that puts him well ahead of Boris Johnson
Mr Sunak today highlighted the amount of money paid out to Scottish firms as well as the furlough scheme for jobs in Scotland so far
The scheme that has so far cost £33.8 billion supporting the payrolls of 9.6 million workers during the coronavirus crisis has begun tapering off before ending completely in October.
But opposition parties are calling for the Government to extend it for the hardest-hit sectors and those plunged into local lockdown, warning the end to the scheme is a ‘grave mistake’.
Speaking on BBC Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland radio programme this morning, he said: ‘This has been a very difficult decision, but if you look at it from start to finish, we’ve got a situation where the Government will be helping to pay people’s wages for eight months, from start to finish, which I think is a very long period of time.
‘And I think most reasonable people would agree that’s not something we can carry on indefinitely. In common with most other countries around the world, their versions of these are coming to an end.’
He added there are other schemes in place to help support getting people back to work, such as the job retention bonus.
This gives companies a £1,000 bonus if they bring workers back from furlough and keep them employed until at least January.
Mr Sunak said: ‘That will make a really big difference, especially to the small and medium-sized companies.
‘But it’s also wrong to keep people trapped in a situation to pretend that there is a job to go back to.
‘That won’t always be the case, and in those situations it’s better that we look forward and provide those people with new opportunities, and that’s what our plan for jobs does, here in Scotland in our support for apprenticeships, new training or the hospitality industry.
‘All of that is designed to support new opportunities to provide them with hope at what is unquestionably going to be a very difficult time.’
Mr Sunak is by far the most popular senior Tory among Scots, a new poll suggested today.
Recent polls have suggested a majority support for independence for Scotland, which overwhelmingly voted against Brexit in 2016
And elections for the Scottish Parliament next year are set to give a major sign of the strength of feeling
The YouGov survey gave him a net favourability rating of just 7, but that put him miles ahead of Mr Johnson (-51) and Scots-born Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove (-57), among others.
Mr Johnson himself visited Scotland last month, as did Chief Secretary to the Treasury Steve Barclay and Business Secretary Alok Sharma.
His trip north of the border was greeted by the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford warning ‘thousands of people could lose their jobs unnecessarily’.
‘Cutting the furlough scheme prematurely is a grave mistake. By removing this crucial support in the middle of a global pandemic, and withholding the financial powers Scotland needs for a strong recovery, the Tories are increasing the risk of mass redundancies,’ he said.
With more than 6,500 jobs lost or put at risk just this week, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for a targeted extension to prevent a ‘jobs crisis on a scale not seen for generations’.
The jobs retention scheme, however, is not the only programme aimed at boosting employment amid grim predictions for the economy.
The Chancellor has set out a ‘plan for jobs’ which includes measures to boost apprenticeships, stimulate eating out and a job retention bonus of £1,000 for every furloughed employee retained in January.