THE First Minister has called for opposition parties at the Scottish Parliament to unite against £177 million of cuts to Scotland’s budget for this year.

Nicola Sturgeon has written to the other Holyrood party leaders urging them to join forces to oppose the “unacceptable” spending reductions announced by the UK Government on Thursday.

The Scottish Government warned the £3 billion Whitehall efficiency savings unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne will cut £176.8m from the Scottish budget already agreed by MSPs.

Sturgeon accused the Chancellor of disrespect to the Scottish Parliament in a letter to deputy Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie and Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie.

“I hope that you will agree with me that all parties in Scotland must unite in making clear to the UK Government that it is unacceptable for reductions to be imposed on this year’s Scottish Budget,” she said in her letter.

“Not only do such reductions have a potentially damaging impact on our programmes and public services, but the Chancellor’s approach shows little respect for the role of the Scottish Parliament itself in approving the annual devolved Scottish Budget.

“The Scottish Government will be making these points forcefully over the coming days and I would welcome an indication from you that your party will support such a response.”

Osborne made his cuts announcement ahead of his emergency budget, which will take place on July 8, saying he believed it was vital to tackle UK debt “as quickly as possible”.

The Prime Minister David Cameron has previously pledged to clear the deficit by 2018/19.

Osborne must also find a further £30bn of savings over the next three years, including £12bn from benefits spending and £13bn from government departments.

He also wants to raise £1.5bn by selling off the UK Government’s 30 per cent stake in the Royal Mail.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney, who will meet Osborne for talks on Monday, accused the Chancellor and Prime Minister of an “ideological obsession with austerity” and said further cuts could damage public services and economic growth.

He said Scotland had already seen its overall budget reduced by 9 per cent since 2010, and its capital budget decrease by 25 per cent since then.

In her letter, the First Minister reiterated the Scottish Government’s call for an alternative approach of “moderate” increases in public spending of 0.5 per cent a year in real terms between 2016-17 and 2019-20 in a bid to protect frontline services.

“I firmly believe that this would be a fairer and more effective approach to take, but I also recognise there are a range of views across the political spectrum in the Scottish Parliament about the overall course of public spending and its impact on the economy. I look forward to continuing that debate,” she said.

Greens co-convener Harvie said: “Greens will of course work with others to oppose the UK Government cuts, but we know the Tories are unlikely to listen.

“The real challenge will be to achieve unity in the Scottish Parliament to use our own devolved power to achieve fairer taxation and protection of the public services we all depend on.”

As we went to press Scottish Labour had not released its response to Sturgeon’s letter, but on Thursday Ian Murray, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, supported the SNP’s stance.

He said: “The true colours of the Tories have been exposed – a party determined to cut billions from public spending no matter the human cost. It’s shameful.”

Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont challenged Sturgeon to use new tax-raising powers coming to the Scottish Parliament under the new Scotland Bill.

“Her response over the last 24 hours has shown that the SNP prefers the politics of grievance to a constructive plan to pay down our debts. The Chancellor’s plans should be put into context,” he said. “Only last December, he put extra money into the NHS across the UK, a decision which resulted in an additional £213 million going to John Swinney’s coffers.

“Indeed, since 2010, the Scottish Government has received an extra £2.7 billion due to UK Government decisions – ten times yesterday’s figure.

“The SNP is, as always, quick to cry foul, but rarely acknowledges the benefits of additional spending from the UK Government ... Nor has it ever acknowledged the fact that in tough times, it has benefited massively from being part of a UK funding plan.”

He added: “Tax-raising powers are coming to the Scottish Parliament, so if it wants to act, it can.”