The Deputy First Minister hit out at the impact of policies such as increasing employer National Insurance contributions and scrapping the Winter Fuel Payment for millions of pensioners in an interview with The Scotsman.
She also said that the SNP is watching how Chancellor Rachel Reeves reacts to economic uncertainty “very, very carefully”.
“Economic matters are never a bubble issue. Rachel Reeves is not a bubble issue, because right now there are pensioners in the grips of a cold winter unable to benefit from winter fuel payments,” Forbes told the newspaper.
READ MORE: Ian Murray claims Edinburgh supercomputer project ‘paused not axed’
“The question right now is how she will respond to the market uncertainty – we are watching very, very carefully.”
When then asked whether Reeves should resign, she said: “We are all watching very carefully on how she will respond to the market uncertainty.”
Forbes went on: “Where you have a government that has a mandate because a policy change was front and centre of their manifesto and people voted for them on that basis, you could understand it to an extent.
(Image: UK Parliament)
“But the only party that wasn’t straight with the public at the most recent election was Labour.
“[Scottish Labour leader] Anas Sarwar said ‘read my lips, no austerity under Labour’, but earlier today Rachel Reeves couldn’t confirm to [SNP Westminster leader] Stephen Flynn there wouldn’t be more spending cuts.”
The Deputy First Minister said that, in comparison, John Swinney was “straight with the public” when it comes to public finances.
(Image: PA)
“The economists are rarely unanimous, but they were all in the same place saying there was a huge gaping hole in the UK finances and that the Labour Party needed to be straight with what to do to fix it,” Forbes said.
“Instead the Labour Party dismissed that and campaigned on the basis of one word – ‘change’.
“The first thing I would do in her shoes is make sure I have a mandate for the changes I want to introduce.
“The second thing would be to be clear that we need to invest to get ourselves out of these difficulties.
“What we need now is a plan from the government on how to invest in our public sector.
“Even more than that the economic drivers for change will be investing in people and skills, recognising the huge opportunities in Scotland around renewables and manufacturing.
“And one of the biggest challenges people have is accessing a workforce, so there are implications for relaxing immigration rather than tightening it.”