LEFT-WING Eurosceptics lambasted Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney yesterday for thinking he could borrow heavily to end austerity while remaining in the EU straitjacket.

The SNP minister floated proposals earlier this week to up borrowing in the event of a vote for independence to end years of austerity budgets under Westminster governments.

He told reporters he believed the loans were justified to “encourage growth and dynamism within the economy.”