FIRST minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned that the price Scots will pay for voting Tory at this General Election will be higher than ever ... and will fall more heavily on the poor.

Addressing the STUC conference in Aviemore, Sturgeon said Tory hard-liners had taken over the party and now wanted to take over the country.

“Scotland knows there has always been a cost to voting Conservative but the price of voting Tory at this election has never been higher,” she said, adding that it would be those least able to pay the price who would bear the biggest burden.

“The Tories will impose a double hit on Scottish families and communities. They will make Scotland a poorer country and a more unfair, unequal society.”

She said it was no surprise that Ukip were losing support to the Tories as the latter were threatening to take the UK in a direction that a few years ago Ukip could only dream about.

Sturgeon pointed out that even with a small majority the Tories had introduced the bedroom tax, the two-child tax credit cap and the “shameful” rape clause.

If the voters at the forthcoming General Election gave the Tories an even bigger majority the social security system would be in even greater danger, she said, with the triple lock on pensions now under threat too.

“The truth is the Tories are starting to think they can do anything to Scotland and get away with it,” she said.

Brexit was evidence of this, she said, as Prime Minister Theresa May had rejected the Scottish Government’s compromise plan despite saying she would seek a UK approach to triggering Article 50.

“Indeed she announced unilaterally, with no consultation, that the UK was to leave the Single Market ... no matter the cost of that,” she said.

Sturgeon said that not only the next few weeks but the next two years would be hugely important for Scotland’s future.

“Faced with the prospect of a Prime Minister who, in her own words, wants to strengthen her own hand to deliver the kind of hard Brexit she wants, it is more important than ever that we have strong voices at Westminster and then, when the terms of Brexit are clear, that the people of Scotland should have a choice about our own future.

“For a Westminster government to seek to block that choice – and instead decide our future for us – is undemocratic and unsustainable.”

Sturgeon told delegates the Scottish Government would work with unions to meet the challenges Scotland faces.

“We know that one of the most important things we can do to build a stronger economy is to tackle inequality,” she said.

“The evidence is clear that greater inequality has a negative impact on economic growth. That’s why creating a more equal society is at the heart of our economic policy. And we know that strong trade unions play a hugely important role in helping achieve that. Research shows that lower levels of union membership reduces pay – not just for union members, but across society.”

Sturgeon said that not only did the Scottish Government support the immediate repeal of the controversial UK Trade Union Act but that it was going to provide an additional £250,000 to mitigate its effects through its Trade Union Fair Work and Modernisation Fund.

She said this would ensure trade union reps were not needlessly diverted by the burdens of the legislation from their most important role of supporting members and promoting fairer work practices.

The lack of women in senior positions is also to be addressed by the Scottish Government, with legislation to be introduced to ensure gender balance on public sector boards.

The First Minister also announced the creation of a new £500,000 Workplace Equality Fund to address inequalities with regards to race and disability. The money will go to groups which can demonstrate that their efforts will help people overcome barriers to employment.