NEW Scotland Office Minister Ian Stewart refused to say whether he's asked the Treasury to continue furlough in Scotland in a TV interview.

Appearing on the BBC's Sunday Politics Scotland programme, Iain Stewart, the Scottish-born MP for Milton Keynes South, was repeatedly asked if he had questioned the Treasury on its willingness to extend the coronavirus job retention scheme past its October cut-off.

That's something sought by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who says keeping to the current end date risks redundancies.

Rural Economy and Tourism Secretary Fergus Ewing told the same programme that ending support in October will be "insufficient" for some sectors, where the impact of the pandemic will be "so severe that longer term help will be required".

READ MORE: Tory MP: 'Anti-British' to suggest I shouldn't be Scotland Office minister

But when repeatedly asked about what he's done on this, Stewart — who replaced Douglas Ross after the latter quit over the Dominic Cummings scandal — refused to say whether or not he's had any conversations with the Treasury.

Instead, he called for greater ambition from Holyrood ministers.

Stewart said: "Everyone is hopeful that by then we are very much into the economic recovery place. So I don't think it's going to be helpful to focus on that specific scheme beyond October."

He went on: "I think the focus of the Scottish Government should be a bit more ambitious to make sure the economy is getting up and running by the autumn."

Stewart was told that the "optics" of his appointment over any of the Conservatives representing Scottish constituencies is "terrible".

However, Stewart said he is "born and bred in Scotland" and he has family in Hamilton, where he grew up.

He went on: "I've been involved in Scottish politics for over 30 years.

"In terms of my colleagues in Westminster, they've all got important roles. We've John Lamont for instance, who is working with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, largely in England but nobody is criticising him for doing that."

In his interview, Ewing said: "We do think that the assistance which will expire in October will be insufficient to achieve the primary objective here, which is to mitigate financial hardship for businesses who at the moment have no revenue but face overheads which continue to be paid.

"Our assessment is that the impact on tourism, even after resumption — which we hope will on July 15 in Scotland — will be so severe that longer-term help will be required."

Pointing out that in parts of Scotland the tourist season runs from April to September, he said: "Therefore, to cut off support just at the time when the season ends from that point of view looks to be pretty draconian."

Mr Ewing said he is "hopeful" through dialogue with the UK Government "we can actually achieve something" on the issue.

He added he is "pretty confident" almost all tourism activities will be able to resume north of the border from July 15, unless there is a second wave of the virus or localised spread.