Giving Scots a World Cup day off sets a 'terrible precedent' for expensive economic shutdowns that cost the economy billions, a former UK minister warned today.
Ex-education secretary Gillian Keegan lashed out over the SNP's decision to make June 15 a bank holiday north of the border to celebrate Scotland's first game in the competition for almost 30 years.
The Tartan Army play Haiti in Boston in a game that kicks off at 2am on June 14, meaning fans will essentially get two days to recover from their excesses.
But the cost to the economy of the bank holiday has been estimated at up to £220million, with the Scottish government admitting it will cost NHS Scotland £60million alone and impact services.
SNP First Minister John Swinney was accused of giving voters a 'pre-election bung' when he announced the day off in the lead up to May's Holyrood elections.
