THE SNP must cut NHS Scotland’s record waiting lists to boost the nation’s economy, Labour Scottish secretary Ian Murray has said.

Speaking at an event at the University of Edinburgh on Friday focused on economic growth in Scotland, Mr Murray challenged the Scottish government to cut NHS Scotland’s record 700,000-strong waiting lists to get people back to work.

Citing Office for National Statistics figures showing sickness absence rates were higher in Scotland than the rest of the UK — as of September, nearly 300,000 Scots were not working as a result of illness: 20,900 for periods under 20 working days and 271,600 for longer — he told the conference: “One of the key reasons why Scotland’s inactivity rate is higher than the rest of the UK is because proportionately more people in Scotland aren’t able to work because of ill health. 

“As it stands, NHS waiting times are one of the biggest blocks on growing our economy. Cut waiting lists and you’ll grow our economy.

“We’ll make no apology delivering the funding our NHS needs, and we now hope and expect the Scottish government to deliver better results for patients.”

SNP MSP Emma Harper hit back, saying: “First Minister John Swinney has set out a clear plan to reduce waiting times and improve patient experiences in our NHS.

“What won’t help our economy is the UK Labour government’s plans to bring back austerity and cut billions of pounds from public spending — increasing poverty, hamstringing business and limiting opportunities.

“Ian Murray would be better served trying to influence Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to scrap their catastrophic austerity plans than giving speeches on devolved issues, which don’t actually include any policy suggestions.”