NIGEL Farage has been branded a “dangerous clown” after hinting he would scrap the Scottish Parliament’s funding mechanism if he won power in Westminster.
Asked during a rare appearance in Scotland on Monday about whether he would get rid of the Barnett formula, which is used to fund Holyrood, Farage said the mechanism was “out of date”.
He added: “What I’d like to see is a Scottish Government that’s able to raise a bit more of its own revenue and a Scottish economy that’s actually got genuine growth and I don’t believe that can happen without this sector [oil and gas] booming.
“I think, you know, the Barnett formula goes back to the 1970s. Is there an argument it should be looked at again? Of course there is.”
Farage said that “welfare dependency” would not be reduced by the UK Government’s allocation to the Scottish Parliament this year.
Clare Haughey, the SNP MSP for Rutherglen, said: "What Farage really wants to do is to slash Scotland’s funding and take powers away from our Parliament. He has been obsessed with cutting Scotland's budget for years.
"This is the same man who dragged Scotland out of the EU against our will making us all poorer.
"Farage doesn't care about Scotland and his disastrous day trip north has made that abundantly clear."
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “Today the chief clown Nigel Farage finally found his way to Scotland and showed just how totally out of touch with our country he is.
“Nigel Farage turned up, admitted he can’t win the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election and pledged to cut funding for Scotland’s NHS and public services.
“Nigel Farage is a dangerous clown and the people of Scotland see right through him.”
Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater added: "Make no mistake, when Nigel Farage talks about changing the Barnett formula, what he’s talking about is reducing funding for Scotland’s public services.
“For too long, UK Governments have allowed extreme wealth and power to be concentrated in the hands of an elite few instead of serving the public good."
