THE 10 richest people in Scotland have seen their wealth increase as ordinary people continue to suffer the effects of government spending cuts.

Their fortunes have increased by 9 per cent over the last year, taking their combined wealth to £14.71 billion, according to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.

The Grant-Gordon whisky family is the richest in Scotland, with a fortune of £2.37bn — up £210 million since last year.

Second on the list is former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed and his family, whose £1.7bn wealth includes an estate in Scotland.

Other billionaires on the list include Mahdi al-Tajir, who owns sparkling water company Highland Spring, oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood, and the Arnold Clark family, owners of the car dealership of the same name.

Unite Scottish secretary Pat Rafferty branded the news “sickening,” accusing the Tories of “fleecing the workers and the most vulnerable while lining the pockets of the rich and powerful.”

Mr Rafferty said: “The Tory government’s austerity measures are strangling growth, inflicting misery on society’s most vulnerable and limiting the aspirations of our young people.

“Welfare changes are causing severe damage to those struggling on benefits” he said, adding: “The unemployed, the disabled, older people, young people but also working people are all affected by the government’s regressive austerity measures.”

Mr Rafferty criticised the government for its “derisory” public-sector pay offer of 1 per cent, noting that, “after years of pay freezes, wages in real terms have fallen and people are turning to foodbanks in increasing numbers.”

Buy Monday’s Star to read more about the wealth of Britain’s 1,000 richest people as detailed in the Sunday Times Rich List.