National security is top of agenda for Sturgeon and Cameron meeting

The two leaders will meet in Downing Street tomorrow and The Sunday Post has learned the Prime Minister plans to raise the issue of defending the UK in the wake of the Paris terrorist atrocities.

It is understood Mr Cameron wants to make sure the ties between Police Scotland and the national security agencies are as strong as they can be in the face of a heightened terror threat.

The response to the Glasgow Airport attack and the city hosting the Commonwealth Games were hailed as UK-wide police and security services successes and the Tory administration is keen to build on this in the context of the renewed threat from Islamic State.

Top of Miss Sturgeon’s agenda for the meeting is the issue of the financial rules that will underpin Holyrood’s new tax and welfare powers.

The new devolved powers set out in the Scotland Bill cannot go ahead until a so-called “fiscal framework” is agreed.

The framework, which will set out how Scotland’s block grant will reduce in the coming years as Holyrood gains revenue-raising powers, was meant to be agreed by October.

But talks are ongoing, with hopes that tomorrow’s meeting will progress the deal. The SNP administration has said it will walk away from it if it means Scotland loses out.

Tomorrow’s talks, the first face-to-face meeting since Mr Cameron visited Edinburgh in May, come just two days before Scotland’s draft 2015/16 budget is unveiled.

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Finance Secretary John Swinney last night warned Scotland faces “tough choices” in the budget, but he is still expected to find cash for some “giveaways” given it is just five months until the next Holyrood election.

Police, education and the NHS are expected to be the big winners, while Mr Swinney will also set out the first income tax rate to come under the control of Holyrood.

Reports yesterday suggested a 5% cut in money given to Scotland’s councils is also on the cards.

Mr Swinney said: “The Chancellor has imposed real-terms cuts on Scotland every year from now until 2020, and more than a billion pounds of those cuts are still to come between now and the end of the decade.

“Now Scotland has to deal with the reality of the Chancellor’s decision. We face tough choices in the coming days.

“Against this backdrop, the Scottish Government is determined that we will defend and protect the key priorities that the people of Scotland expect us to deliver on.

“Critical pillars of Scottish life – our schools, hospitals and police – will not be sacrificed to the Chancellor’s austerity obsession.”

A Scotland Office spokesman said: “The Scottish Government will have  £390 million more spending available to it next year, which rises to £750 million if you include its own underspend.

“The stability of the UK economy means the block grant will be almost £30 billion. One look at the current oil price tells you this is a much better deal for people in Scotland than the constitutional alternative favoured by the Scottish Government.”

Scottish Labour Public Services spokeswoman Jackie Baillie added: “Politics in Scotland is changing.

The debate now isn’t about pretending we can’t change things, but instead talking about what we can do with the new powers – it’s time John Swinney backed up his anti-austerity posturing with something real.”