Scottish Budget: The case for tax cuts is crystal clear but the SNP aren't listening

Any difficult choices the SNP government have to make are entirely down to decisions that they have made themselves, and not ones they can blame on anyone else. The Westminster block grant is increasing in real terms, and indeed, even accounting for inflation, it is nearly double what it was when the Scottish Parliament was first established.

What we have seen over the past nearly 19 years of SNP in control is that far too much of that money has been squandered on vanity projects, whilst the opportunity to add to the total by growing the Scottish economy faster than the UK average has been lost. Meanwhile, there have been generous salary increases paid to public sector employees without any commensurate expectation of increases in productivity.

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£10 billion benefits bill looms

Most concerning of all has been the growth in the benefits bill under the SNP. Already Scotland spends £1.3 billion more in benefits than it receives through the Westminster block grant. Independent forecasters estimate that the total spend on welfare will be nearly £10bn by the end of the current decade. And the SNP have no idea how that will be funded.

As Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay pointed out in a speech earlier this week, these numbers are simply not sustainable. Scotland as a country cannot afford to park more people on benefits. Our economy needs working people to fill vital vacancies, and yet we are making it more attractive for individuals to stay at home than it is for them to seek work and contribute to the economy.

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What the Scottish Government’s Budget should be about is an unrelenting focus on economic growth. This provides secure, well-paid jobs for people who otherwise struggle with the rising cost of living. It means greater tax yields, with more money therefore to spend on improving public services, bringing down NHS waiting lists, delivering faster GP appointments and raising school standards.

A key component in delivering that faster economic growth and, at the same time, tackling the cost of living, is to use the Scottish Budget to bring down bills. That is why the Conservatives have set out sensible and realistic plans to cut taxes for working people and small businesses.

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Extra £1,500 tax on nurses and police

This is in sharp contrast to the direction of travel of the SNP, whose only answer appears to be continually squeezing both families and businesses to extract more cash. A worker earning around £50,000 a year – such as a police sergeant or a specialist clinical nurse – will now pay £1,500 a year more in taxation than their equivalent south of the Border. Those same workers can also pay substantially more in LBTT/Stamp Duty when purchasing a new home than those elsewhere in the UK.

Meantime, Scottish businesses, already suffering due to Labour’s increase in employers’ National Insurance, and from rising energy costs, are being hit with a rates revaluation which in some cases sees bills double or more. And the SNP have not even matched the rates reductions for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses available for the last two years south of the Border.

That is why the Scottish Conservatives have set out costed and affordable plans to tackle Scotland’s tax burden. We would reduce income tax to 19 per cent for lower and middle-income households, whilst increasing the higher rate tax threshold in line with inflation.

And we would commit to index-linking the tax bands for every year of the next Scottish Parliament, a package of measures which together would save taxpayers up to £718 a year. It is a combination that would close the tax gap between Scotland and the rest of the UK, one which businesses regularly tell us is an active deterrent to the ability to attract talent here.

Abolish LBTT to help young house-buyers

On business rates, we are calling for a halt to the current revaluation cycle, given its Draconian impact on too many businesses already on the edge. And the Scottish Parliament must use its devolved powers to ensure that no Scottish business will pay more rates than their counterparts elsewhere in the UK.

Thirdly, in line with the promises made by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, we would want to see LBTT abolished entirely for those purchasing a private residence, giving younger people more opportunity to own their own property, and allowing older people to more easily downsize, thus freeing up larger homes for families.

Along with support for the vital oil-and-gas sector, this is a programme to help families struggling with rising bills, support business, and drive economic growth. All together, this would generate the higher tax revenues that Scotland needs to fund the very public services struggling due to nearly two decades of SNP mismanagement.

SNP’s constitutional navel-gazing

In his speech on Monday, First Minister John Swinney set out his own priority for the coming year – pressing for another independence referendum. This will be at the heart of the SNP’s offer to the Scottish people in the elections in May.

The First Minister could not be more wrong. The last thing Scotland needs is another period of division as we go through yet more constitutional navel-gazing. Instead his focus, and that of his government, needs to be on economic growth.

That is the priority of the Scottish Conservatives, and that will be at the heart of our manifesto for the forthcoming Holyrood elections. And it is a message that will be entirely in tune with what the majority of the Scottish population want to see.

Murdo Fraser is a Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid-Scotland and Fife