Row over SNP dropping 50p tax rate policy

The SNP has been accused of cobbling together old studies to justify a sudden U-turn in dropping their support for a 50p tax rate.

Senior Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said the Nationalists ruled out the increase in the top rate for those earning £150,000 or more based on a civil service paper that “contained no original research” on the Scottish picture.

The analysis of the impact of the 50p rate was produced in less than a week in March and was not based on new research, The Herald reported.

A spokesman for the Scottish Government said they have “studied the implications of different policy options in detail over many years”.