Shona Robison warns Rachel Reeves about past budget mistakes

Ms Reeves must use this statement to ensure that the Scottish Government has the “required resources” to reduce child poverty, tackle climate change and improve public services, Ms Robison said.

She raised the issue ahead of a debate at Holyrood to set out the Scottish Government’s priorities for the UK budget.

Ahead of Tuesday’s debate, Ms Robison made it clear: “The autumn budget is an opportunity for the finance minister to prioritise investment over spending cuts.”

She cited economists such as Professor Mariana Mazzucato and Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, Rector of the University of Glasgow, who had warned that the British government’s “underinvestment” had led to a “vicious circle of stagnation and decline”.

The Finance Minister therefore insisted that a “change of direction is needed” when Ms Reeves presents her budget.

Ms Robison said: “I call on the UK Government not to repeat the mistakes of the past and to provide the resources we need to do our core work: eradicating child poverty, creating prosperity, improving our public services and protecting the planet.”

She added: “I am ready to work with the Chancellor to achieve this goal.”

Her comments came after Ms Reeves sought to strike a more optimistic tone about the British economy in her speech to the Labour Party conference after months of gloomy messages.

However, Monday’s speech followed a heated row over the Chancellor’s decision to make winter heating oil payments means-tested. Millions of pensioners across the UK will not receive their payments – up to £300 – this winter.

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Reeves stressed that the “Tory legacy” inherited by the Labour government would bring with it “tough choices”, but added: “I will not allow that to cloud our ambitions for Britain.”

She also promised that there would be “no return to austerity.” The Chancellor stated: “The conservative austerity policy was a destructive decision for our public services and also for investment and growth.”

She announced that she would present a “budget to rebuild Britain”. It would be “a budget with real ambition, a budget to fix the foundations, a budget that delivers the change we promised”.

A Treasury spokesman said: “The Chancellor has been clear that the reward for the stability of our economy is investment and well-paid jobs that enrich all parts of the country.

“We have been honest about the state of the public finances we inherited, but we are doing everything we can to rebuild the UK on the basis of our fundamental strengths, including our world-leading renewable energy and services sectors.”