The SNP has been criticised after accusing companies complaining about business rate increases of being “Tory cronies”.
Nationalist MSP, Christina McKelvie, claimed Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson, had raised the plight of Aberdeenshire’s Score Group because of its “considerable” support for groups such as Better Together, who ran the No campaign in the 2014 independence referendum.
Ms McKelvie said the incident showed Ms Davidson was using First Minister’s Questions to “advance the cause of her Tory cronies”, rather than hold Nicola Sturgeon to account.
But North East MSP Ross Thomson responded there were “serious questions to answer” about Ms McKelvie’s point of order.
He said: “Are the SNP suggesting that the views of one of the biggest employers in Aberdeenshire are somehow invalid because the owner supported the Better Together campaign?
“Furthermore, are all the other businesses in the north-east that have spoken up about rates rises ‘Tory cronies’ in the eyes of the SNP?
“It is high time that the Scottish Government started to take these warnings seriously.
“If there is no meaningful action to ease pressure on local businesses, this could have devastating consequences for the north-east economy.”
A spokesman for the SNP said: “This revaluation process is independent of government and not something the Scottish Government can intervene in, and it is disingenuous for the Tories to claim otherwise.
“Proposals in the budget will mean 6,000 north-east businesses pay no rates at all.
“The Scottish Government has consistently supported businesses in the north-east, investing in the City Region Deal, the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route and supporting the transition to renewables even as the Tories at Westminster cut funding.
“The fact that the Tories are only noticing this point of order now shows how little they pay attention in our national parliament.”
