The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Holyrood passes £33bn Budget with tax hikes
Extra cash will help boost NHS and childcare, claims Government
MSPS passed a Budget imposing tax rises on Scottish workers as new figures showed a rise in unemployment.
Business groups have repeatedly said that Scotland’s fragile economy will be harmed by hiking income tax for middle and higher earners.
But their warnings were dismissed when the SNP’S tax and spending plans passed their final parliamentary hurdle – on the day the country’s jobless total increased by 14,000.
The SNP and Greens joined forces to push the £33 billion Budget through by 70 votes to 56 last night.
Dean Lockhart, the Fife MSP for the Scottish Conservatives, said the unemployment figures show the importance of having a “strong economy focused on growth, high wages and competitive taxes”.
“Instead, the SNP only wants to hike tax, which will scare away investment and risk higher unemployment figures in future,” he said.
“The Nationalists should listen to the experts and keep taxes competitive for workers and businesses.”
Scotland’s unemployment rate rose to 4.5% – to 124,000 people – in the final three months of last year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
In the same period the number of people in employment in Scotland fell by 20,000 to stand at 2,632,000.
There were nearly 12,000 people claiming jobseeker’s allowance in Tayside and Fife in January. That is 295 more than the same month last year and follows a long-term downward trend in those claiming the unemployment benefit.
Challenged on the jobs figures in Holyrood, Finance Secretary Derek Mackay insisted his Budget will boost the economy by investing in skills, productivity and innovation.
The 2018-19 Budget includes an extra £400m for the NHS and £243m towards doubling the number of free childcare for families to 1,140 hours. It also exempts first-time buyers from LBTT, which is the equivalent of stamp duty.
Mr Mackay, who said the NHS benefits most from the Budget, said: “We are delivering stimulus, sustainability and a stronger society.”
The Federation for Small Businesses said most of its members were against the tax rises, adding the Budget “must not open the flood gates to a host of scottish supplements, charges and levies”.