GEORGE Osborne’s cuts will continue to hit the poorest in society the hardest, Nicola Sturgeon has said.

The First Minister said the Chancellor’s austerity programme had failed and was making it difficult for her government to help families.

Ms Sturgeon told MSPs in the Scottish Parliament that she supported the move to scrap the proposed tax credit cuts but warned that with other welfare cuts being carried through there would be pain for those on low incomes.

She said: “The spending review represents a continuation of the United Kingdom Government’s failed austerity programme. As a result of its cuts, funding for day-to-day public services in Scotland will be cut by almost 6 per cent over the next four years, representing a real-terms cut of more than £1.5 billion. Those further cuts are damaging and needless, and they will continue to hit the poorest hardest.”

Labour’s Jackie Baillie asked the First Minister what new powers the Scottish Government would use to combat austerity.

Ms Sturgeon said future plans would be laid out in the Budget next month and in the manifesto for the 2016 elections.

Ms Sturgeon spoke as Finance Secretary John Swinney warned the Scottish Government budget would be squeezed even further in the coming years.

He said the budget for “day-to-day spending” would be reduced by 6%

Mr Swinney said: Taken with the cuts that have been imposed in recent years, that means that, by 2019-20, the Scottish Government’s total discretionary budget will be £3.9 billion or around 12.5% lower in real terms than it was in 2010-11.”

He said the chancellor was imposing “deep cuts” to spending on business, transport, local government and the environment which he branded “unnecessary”.

He added: “The Scottish Government has consistently advocated an alternative approach that would ensure that the deficit was reduced while also allowing for significant additional investment in public services compared with the chancellor’s plans. Instead, the chancellor has continued to pursue an ideologically driven programme of austerity.”

In a statement o MSPs he said: “When we set out our plans for the Scottish budget next month, we will be driven by our principles of establishing a system that is fair and progressive and of creating a sustainable economy that ensures opportunities for all within Scotland.”