Scots worried about thrift

Public spending yesterday topped the political agenda in Scotland as Labour came under fire for "wasting" taxpayers' money

Public spending yesterday topped the political agenda in Scotland as Labour came under fire for "wasting" taxpayers' money. The Tories claimed the rising cost of the new Holyrood building in Edinburgh was an example of Labour's "financial waste".

And the former SNP leader, Mr Alex Salmond, claimed Labour was planning to cut Scotland's share of public spending through the Barnett Formula.

The Scottish Tories brought a JCB digger bearing the slogan "Dig Deeper" to the new parliament building site. The Scottish party president, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, accused Labour of presiding over a "major embarrassment" with the soaring cost of the complex.