First Minister John Sweeney and Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay.
by Bill Heaney
Death and taxes. That’s what the Scottish Parliament was taken up with earlier today.
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay has a way of winding up First Minister John Swinney almost to the point of losing his cool — almost.
But, despite being asked the vexed question of income tax and why we pay so much, about which almost everyone loses their cool when they look at their payslip, Mr Swinney managed to keep the heid.
He added: “John Swinney will reach for his script and say that lower earners are better off, but he will not say that they are just £40 better off—that is, £40 a year, or 77p per week.
The IFS also says that the SNP Government ‘lacks a coherent strategy for the devolved tax system’.
“John Swinney has been finance secretary, Deputy First Minister and First Minister, so who does he blame for bleeding Scottish workers dry?”
“Of course, everybody who lives in Scotland has access to a wider set of social contract provisions than people in the rest of the United Kingdom, including free bus travel for under-22s and, crucially, the saving of £27,000 in tuition fees for any taxpayer in Scotland who sends their child to a university in Scotland.”
“That is the SNP delivering for all the people of Scotland,” said Mr Swinney to SNP cheers.
“It is not just the IFS—ordinary Scots can see that injustice, too. A retail manager contacted me to say that he and his wife, a nurse, are angry at the unfairness. He asked whether it is really worth being honest, hard-working people in this country. Can John Swinney explain to them why they are out striving, to pay for others not to work?”
“This is what I heard from a general practitioner with decades of experience in helping patients who are in genuine need of benefits. She said: ‘John Swinney is completely wrong to state there is a robust process’. She says that there is a huge number of fraudulent claims, and she identifies ‘a large group of people who believe they have genuine claims but, in reality, are capable of work’.
“She concludes by telling me that she was an SNP voter—[Interruption.] — but that she ‘will not be voting for the party at the forthcoming election for a number of reasons, not least their inability to control the escalating number of benefits claims.
“Why can John Swinney not see what everyone else can see? His light-touch benefits system is completely out of control.”
Mr Swinney protested: “There is absolutely nothing selective about the statistics that I have put on the record, so I will put a few more on the record. A band 4 dental nurse at the bottom of the scale will earn £30,353 and take home £2,065 more after tax compared with a dental nurse in the same band in England.
“A band 6 nurse at the bottom of the scale will earn £41,608 and take home £1,994 more after tax compared with a nurse in the same band in England. That demolishes the rubbish that Mr Findlay has put to me.
“When it comes to social security, it is quite obvious to people in Scotland today that the only card that Mr Findlay is prepared to play is the card to attack the most vulnerable in our society. I want to make it clear that I lead a Government that is committed to delivering growth in our economy and fairness to the people of our country.
“Enterprise and compassion—that is what people get from an SNP Government led by John Swinney.”
“The Scottish benefits agency, which was created by the SNP, also published shocking new data this week. It revealed that almost 500,000 people—that is, half a million Scots—now receive adult disability payment and that the number of people claiming it has gone up by almost 15 per cent since last year. Social Security Scotland predicts that 750,000 Scots will be receiving ADP by 2030. Of course, many of those claims are completely valid, but we cannot ignore credible and sustained warnings of fraud and abuse. Does John Swinney agree with that alarming projection? Do those soaring numbers give him any cause for concern?”
Of course, everybody who lives in Scotland has access to a wider set of social contract provisions than people in the rest of the United Kingdom, including free bus travel for under-22s and, crucially, the saving of £27,000 in tuition fees for any taxpayer in Scotland who sends their child to a university in Scotland. That is the SNP delivering for all the people of Scotland.”