Tory leader Kemi Badenoch: The SNP can't be trusted with YOUR money

Kemi Badenoch has launched an astonishing attack on the SNP saying they cannot be trusted to manage Scotland’s finances following a catalogue of damaging cash scandals. In a blistering broadside as the SNP conference ended today, the Tory leader said: ‘The SNP are not people who should be left alone without anybody watching what they’re doing.’ Mrs Badenoch said SNP ministers were ‘unable to use public money judiciously’ and said controversies such as Peter Murrell’s embezzlement of £400,000 from his own party members, public finance minister Hannah Mary Goodlad opting to use £11,000 of taxpayer cash to fund a personal artist, and the Nats’ plans to spend millions opening new ‘embassies’ across the world were examples of their mismanagement. She spoke exclusively to the Mail on Sunday while on a two-day visit to Scotland where she warned that the SNP ‘need a lot of scrutiny. ‘ ‘[The SNP] want to talk endlessly about breaking the United Kingdom up. They don’t want to show how they’re improving education, how they’re improving health, what they’re doing on public services, getting people’s living standards up. They have no answers. Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch visited entrepreneurs in Edinburgh The camper van bought by former SNP boss Peter Murrell using members' money ‘I think Transport minister Stephen Flynn is just emblematic, as is this finance minister Hannah Mary Goodlad...yet another example of gross unseriousness. A finance minister unable to use public money judiciously in her own office is not going to be able to use public money properly for Scotland. ‘She can’t manage the finances in her own office. That means she can’t manage Scotland’s finances either.’ She praised her Scottish colleagues for holding the SNP to account on public spending, and said: ‘It’s a loss to Holyrood that there are fewer of them because they were the ones really highlighting the SNP’s failures in terms of spending of money. ‘Their huge campervan scandal, all this stuff with Nicola Sturgeon and her husband, show that these are not people who should be left alone without anybody watching what they’re doing. Another perfect example is in spending money on foreign embassies.’ Pointing to the Mail on Sunday’s exclusive revealing the party wants to open more than 30 new ‘embassies’ in 34 countries, Ms Badenoch said the outposts had no real benefit to Scots. She said: ‘There is no point. It’s for jollies. These embassies are not helping the Scottish people. They are helping SNP politicians go on jollies.’ Asked about transport minister Stephen Flynn’s recent blunder at a Holyrood committee, where he appeared to know nothing about a dangerous gas leak on a passenger ferry despite having been sent details of it before the meeting, she said: ‘Stephen Flynn talks a good game, but this is the difference between being a noise maker, and being ready to actually run things, and to take responsibility for things. ‘I think he’s going to continue to have a very tough time because just being able to talk is not the same as being able to do. This is what the SNP are about’ Ms Badenoch added that Mr Flynn and Ms Goodlad ‘would not be my ministers’ if they were members of her party. The Tory leader also warned that the prime minister cannot be relied upon after a series of speaking blunders, most recently when he was forced to correct the record in parliament when he wrongly stated someone was ‘responsible for the murder’ of Reform UK spokeswoman Ann Widdecombe, despite criminal proceedings being ongoing. Public finance minister Hannah Mary Goodlad wants to hire a personal artist with public money Andy Burnham also angered the Tories, and some within Labour, when he told MPs that Scotland’s route to another constitutional poll was ‘exactly the same’ as it is for Northern Ireland. He had previously said that a vote on independence was not on the table, but Nats seized on his comments and have since insisted Scots are in favour of another vote. Asked if she thought Mr Burnham misspoke on the constitution, Ms Badenoch said: ‘Yes I think he has. We have seen that Andy Burnham has ‘foot in mouth’ syndrome - he is repeatedly having to clean up messes that he has made. ‘He has now had to correct the record yet again to avoid what I think might be contempt of court, and these things make it very hard for us to rely on what the Prime Minister is saying because he’s speaking very loosely. ‘For what it’s worth, I fundamentally disagree with that approach. My view is that the referendum issue has been settled - both [Brexit and Independence] results. ‘I know some people may not have won, but in a democracy, loser’s consent is very important and we need to move forward. Solving the problems, whether in Scotland or in the United Kingdom, is going to require us to actually focus on those problems rather than keep having constitutional arguments.’ The Tory leader, and MP for West Essex, was joined by shadow Scottish Secretary Harriet Cross during her 10th visit to Scotland in as many months. She said she visits so often as she feels passionately about the country and its part in the United Kingdom. ‘I want people to know that we care very much about Scotland.’ she explained. An SNP spokesman said Ms Badenoch had ‘appointed an author of Liz Truss’ disastrous mini-budget as her choice for UK Chancellor... so people will be forgiven for not taking her views on others very seriously.’