Yesterday, the Chancellor announced new funding for the Scot Gov. @ScotTories insisted it was spent immediately. Then it transpired it wasn't 'extra' money, leaving businesses confused & fed-up. It was a public example of the internal budget battles I've fought since March. /1

Forward planning is essential in a pandemic. But we can only plan with the funding we have at that point in time, because we are one of the only Govs in the world that can't overspend i.e. borrow. Funding is allocated to us, not according to need, but only when UKGov spends. /2

Take biz support. Throughout the pandemic, the UK Gov has repeatedly told me 'there will be no more money before end of the year - budget with what you have'. So I have budgeted carefully, pushed the funding we have as far as it can possibly go to help businesses.../3

...only to then see UK Gov finally act, sometimes days or weeks later, generating new (v welcome) consequentials for Scot Gov. But if they'd acted sooner, or had given us a head's up about future funding, or allowed us to overspend through borrowing, its biz that would benefit /4

Tories spin it - saying we're sitting on money for biz or we should 'be thankful' for what we receive. Both are nonsense. Remember yesterday they insisted we spend 'extra' money of c£375m immediately only for them to discover it wasn't 'extra' at all? You can't spend thin air. /5

Budgeting well in a pandemic matters to the businesses & services that need urgent resources. When funding is allocated as & when another Gov spends, you've got to max every penny & prepare for unforeseen events. UKG's mixed messages (in public & private) makes it v difficult. /6

In the interests of fairness, the UKG did make one helpful change in the summer of guaranteeing funding - i.e. not 'clawing it back' at the end of the year which is always a risk in normal years if the UKG spend is lower than expected. I doubt many are aware of that. /7