Austerity a Brexit vote trigger, says Nicola Sturgeon

Austerity policies were a "major driver" behind the Brexit vote, Nicola Sturgeon has said, as she demanded the Chancellor uses the Autumn Statement to reverse the cuts.

Scotland's First Minister said the Government could not continue to ignore the feeling of "inequality and powerlessness" that drove thousands of people to vote to leave the European Union.

She said cuts to welfare and public services in "austerity budgets" had helped to foster a sense of disillusionment that helped to trigger Brexit.

And she called on the Chancellor to use his Autumn Statement on 23 November to tackle the issue.

Speaking at the Institute of Directors' annual convention at London's Royal Albert Hall, Ms Sturgeon said: "I'm very proud of the fact that Scotland voted so strongly to remain in the European Union. But I can't ignore the fact that even in Scotland, a million people voted to leave.

"They did not think that the European Union benefited them - they did not see advantages from free trade and free movement."

She conceded there were other factors that drove some to vote to leave the EU - including "entirely reasonable doubts" about the organisation.

But, she added: "Brexit was a product of a sense of disenfranchisement and disillusionment.

"It was borne of inequality, of feelings of powerlessness - of austerity budgets which hurt the public services and social safety nets that so many people depend on."

She said Philip Hammond had to make sure his policies "ensure that the benefits of growth, of globalisation, are more fairly distributed".

And added: "The UK Government has suffered one of its most significant policy reversals in generations - it can no longer ignore the social and economic cost of inequality and the impact of its misguided commitment to austerity."