Tax brake on growth

WITH an unemployment rate significantly higher than the UK average, Scotland’s economy is today at a crossroads.

Nicola Sturgeon’s willingness to make economic growth one of her top priorities for the next five years must therefore be welcomed.

Her deputy John Swinney is by far the most capable minister in her Cabinet – but even he cannot be expected to simultaneously produce a Budget and design policies that will drag Scotland’s economy back from the precipice.

The new Economy Secretary will have that task – and it is vital that Miss Sturgeon learns from her mistake in appointing Angela Constance as Education Secretary and appoints a competent politician to such an important job.

Infrastructure Secretary Keith Brown has demonstrated a clear understanding of the economy – or perhaps Bruce Crawford could be tempted back to government now that his hopes of becoming Presiding Officer have been dashed.

Welcome, too, is Miss Sturgeon’s commitment to a full-scale review of business rates. The decision to punish medium and large companies with tax rises slipped under the radar earlier this year but came to the fore during the election campaign.

If the First Minister genuinely wants to make our employers competitive, that policy must be ditched.

More worryingly, however, Miss Sturgeon is sticking to her guns on the SNP’s income tax proposals.

That means middle-income workers will pay more tax than people in England for the first time, as of April next year.

Even with an increased focus around the Cabinet table, offering the UK’s most talented workers a disincentive to work in Scotland will hold our economy back.