Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales ask for an urgent meeting with the British finance minister

The announced tax cut could endanger public services

MADRID, 1 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The authorities of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have requested an urgent meeting with the British finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, in response to the announcement of tax cuts and budget reductions that could jeopardize public services.

Scotland's deputy chief minister, John Swinney, and Welsh and Northern Ireland finance ministers, Rebecca Evans and Conor Murphy, have already accused Kwarteng of "playing a card" with his £45 billion tax reduction plan. 51,270 million euros) in taxes.

Swinney, Evans and Murphy have sent a joint letter to Kwarteng in which they warn that inflation is already affecting the budgets of the two autonomous governments and that they need additional financing from the central government.

"We are stretching the budgets beyond the maximum and we are making difficult decisions to balance them, since we do not have the flexibility or the borrowing capacity that the British Government has," they have argued. "It is a position that probably cannot be sustained and that is putting public services at risk," they have warned.

Thus, they have indicated that they cannot wait until November 23 for Kwarteng to finalize its debt reduction plan. "The British Government is playing a card with public finances and the health of our economy. Even before last Friday, the United Kingdom was already facing one of the most serious turbulence of the last generation," they have pointed out.

"However, the British government has chosen to make matters significantly worse by announcing tax cuts for the wealthiest without any credible explanation of how the foregone money will be covered," reports the Press Association.

"Urgent action is necessary to address these issues that affect our economy, public services and households in the country. This action cannot wait for the update that you have announced for November", they have riveted.