CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves declared she was “shocked...[at] the £20 billion black hole” in the UK’s finances.

Ms Reeves might be in denial, but the consequences of Tory fantasy economics come as no surprise to those in Scotland who have experienced the multiple onslaughts of austerity, Brexit and a cost-of-living crisis.

Many viewed with extreme scepticism the false promises of the non-existent £350 million a week for the NHS; doubted there would be either 40 new hospitals or an unbuildable bridge between Scotland and Ireland; and questioned the viability of HS2.

However, the goal of wealth creation, central to Labour’s General Election campaign, depends in part on development and infrastructure projects to stimulate the economy.

The ‘discovery’ of a financial black hole coincides with political failure to face up to the stark insecurity facing those who suffered under 14 years of a Tory government.

Research by the independent Resolution Foundation identifies Britain as a country of “booming wealth”; how many East Lothian constituents recognise that description?

The foundation found huge ‘wealth gaps’ between the very richest and those in ‘the middle range of wealth’, and beyond that, the one in four people who would be unable to pay an unexpected bill of £850.

Central to the SNP’s policy is to reverse the economic harms of Brexit and end the two-child benefit cap, the fastest way to lift tens of thousands of children out of poverty.

‘Creating wealth’ might be Labour’s ambition but is beyond the reach of parents whose priority is providing children with food, clothes and shoes, warm beds and hot water.

Without these essentials, a child is considered to be living ‘in destitution’, a condition affecting over a million children according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2023).

Westminster SNP leader Stephen Flynn’s proposed amendment to end the two-child cap was supported by only seven Labour MPs, who were suspended by PM Starmer. Labour is continuing with a despicable Tory law.

Children living in destitution is like something out of the Victorian Age; it has no place in the SNP’s vision for modern Scotland.