In 1997 a referendum was held which asked two questions: did we want a Scottish parliament; and should that parliament have tax-varying powers? 1,512,889 Scots, or 63.5 per cent of those who voted, agreed that, yes, the parliament should have those tax-varying powers.
Recently it emerged that the SNP government decided, soon after entering office three years ago, to cease paying the annual maintenance costs, of only £50,000, to HM Revenue and Customs which were necessary to enable those tax-varying powers to be used. This was due to a refusal to fund a planned IT upgrade by HMRC to ensure the power could swing into operation within 10 months, should an administration decide to bring it into use.
The SNP government told UK ministers this August that it would not pay for HMRC to work on the PAYE systems to enable the power to be used after next May’s election.
Any incoming administration will now not be able to use the tax power until 2013-14.
Despite making this decision, John Swinney, the finance secretary, specifically ruled out use of the Scottish variable rate in his budget announcement in November, despite being aware that the actions of his administration had taken this choice not only out of his hands, but out of the hands of the next administration.
There are so many issues with the actions of the SNP in this matter: the deliberate misleading of both the parliament and the Scottish people; allowing a power clearly supported by the Scottish people to be lost; removing one of Scotland’s last line of defence against the ConDem government; and the SNP’s ongoing calls for more powers for the parliament, while throwing away the powers that currently exist.
Before I continue, yes, implementation of the Calman changes will alter this picture, but we don’t yet know, for sure, what those changes will look like or when they will come into effect, after all, it is the ConDems we are relying on to push those measures through.
One of the catalysts for widespread support for the creation of a Scottish parliament was the way Scotland was battered throughout the Thatcher years by a culture and values so alien to our own. We wanted protection from those harsh elements, and a tax-varying power was a vital element of that. If it came down to it, if the Tories slashed funding for public services to an intolerable level, we wanted to have some recourse. This is now lost to us.
This episode also reflects the contempt with which the SNP holds both the parliament and the people. Readers may recall the ‘Piegate’ episode, with Frank McAveety having to apologise to the parliament for claiming to have been delayed by ministerial business, when in fact he was having lunch in the canteen. This incident is thought to have significantly influenced his subsequent sacking from Jack McConnell’s ministerial team. Looking back, it doesn’t really compare. One wonders what John Swinney would have to do for his position to become untenable, if being less than forthcoming to parliament over the past three and a half years isn’t enough to shoogle him from his peg?
Most political scandals are really not. They are storms in tea-cups, whipped up at random by the media, distracting attention from meatier policy issues. This is different. This was wrong, undermining of democracy, dishonest, wrong.
This is inaccurate on so many levels and this leaves us to all sorts of criticism. Firstly it is widely published in all the papers that the tax varying powers were dropped in 1999 by the Lab-Lib cioalition. Then the (then) IR asked for up to £7million to restore this power which no-one wants to use. No-one wnats to use them as it is a regressive tax varying power which only affects basic rate. No ability to raise the higher rate or adjust benefit levels. Labour would be a laughing stock to advance the arguments above. More care please.
You reprint Labour Party press releases now?
What an absolute disgrace this website is publishing Labour Party propaganda. This is supposed to be a progressive site for progressive people, not the Labour Party newsletter. Progressives should be attacking the Tories not another Left party!
the SNP are hardly left, and are the main opposition in Scotland, the main obstacle standing in the way of a Labour-governed Scotland. It is hardly surprising that Labour people might write unfavourably about the SNP!
Oh quit your smear campaign already, the only way Labour gets votes is out of Tory resentment. I meant this is supposed to be a progressive site for the progressive COMMUNITY not the LABOUR PARTY. With Mandelson’s plans to privatise the royal mail whilst in government I could accuse Labour of being ‘hardly left’….
isn’t Progress an organisation for Labour party membrs?
Mock outrage over the useless 3p tax ‘power’ is an absolute joke. No-one planned to use them anyway. But when it comes to demanding full economic powers for Scotland’s benefit, Labour quickly shuts up..
What are you all on about this site is for progressives, this site was formed to back Tony Blair, it is New labour, it’s a site which leans to the center right, but it’s a Labour party site for god sake.
This is a travesty of an article, and as a 3rd generation Labour supporter I am ashamed of it. Scottish Labour should get to grips with the reality of minority government – because that is the almost certain outcome of next May’s election and seriously explore their options. They should urgently commence exploring very considerable common ground with an SNP administration which has always been both to the Left of the third rate New Labour/Lib Dem predecessors and will still include (Salmond would not survive a Labour plurality) extremely competent politicians like Swinney, Sturgeon and others who would wipe the floor with all but two or three in Westminster, never mind the existing Scottish Labour crop. Does anyone seriously think Labour could form a Coalition with either of the members of the Westminster Coalition, or last five minutes as a minority? Scottish Labour should cease this sort of playground politics, get real and smell the coffee.
To quote about Progress: ‘Founded in 1996, we are an independent organisation of Labour party members and trade unionists.’ Not all trade unionists are members of the Labour Party – most aren’t. In Scotland, the SNP Trade Union Group offers an alternative to Labours unionist dogma. The SNP are against nucleur power and weapons, voted 100% against the Iraq War, and are against tuition fees. They are also pro ethnic majorities in Scotland – compare that to Phil Woollas. Little wonder that one of Scotlands most influential union leaders of the 20th century, Jimmy Reid, left Labour for the SNP.
My comment no good then…..