Our Politics newsletter is now daily. Join thousands of others and get the latest Scottish politics news sent straight to your inbox. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

MORE than 70,000 public sector jobs are set to go in Scotland as part of brutal Con-Dem cuts.

A study has found the country will suffer more than most other parts of the UK when George Osborne swings his axe.

The gloomy forecast comes on the eve of the first unemployment figures of the year.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “The latest jobless figures are unlikely to bring good news. For the 2.6million people currently without work, theirprospects of finding a job lookever harder.

“And with thousands of jobs set to go across our public services while private sector job creation stagnates, the picture is set to get much, much worse.”

The TUC study is based on Chancellor Osborne’s plan, announced in November, to axe 710,000 UK public sector jobs.

Scotland’s share is 70,225 – or2.8per cent of all jobs in the country.

Only Northern Ireland, where3.2per cent of jobs are set to go, Wales and the north-east of England face a bigger hit, the STUC warned.

The least affected parts of Britain will be the south-east and east of England, where 1.9 per cent of all jobs face the axe.

The figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do not take account of job creation schemesrun by the devolved governments. But the TUC did not expect those to have a big impact on publicsector jobs.

Barber said: “The Government need to devote more energy towards solving our growing jobs crisis. Instead, they’re making the problem worse.”

Scottish Labour’s finance spokesman Ken Macintosh said: “Cuts on this scale would have a massive impact, not just on the individuals affected, but on thevital services people in our local communities depend on.”