Sturgeon Slams Cuts Scale And Pace

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has attacked the scale and speed'' of spending cuts planned by the UK Government in her first major speech on the economy since the general election.

She was speaking to business leaders in Edinburgh, where she encouraged companies to sign up to the Scottish Business Pledge, described as a voluntary code for employers to recognise fair and progressive'' policies while boosting productivity.

She said: We will continue to oppose spending reductions of the scale and speed that the UK Government has suggested.

We believe these will slow economic recovery and make deficit reduction more difficult and that's something that has been demonstrated already by the impact of the cuts that have been imposed since 2010.

If the UK Government does decide to stick to its current proposals we will argue for ways in which the impact on Scotland can be lessened.''