Scots back SNP to use extra tax income wisely

Seven out of ten users who voted on The Scotsman’s Twitter poll have supported a radical overhaul of the Scottish tax system. The move will leave middle-earners facing higher levies than their counterparts south of the Border.

Scottish consultant Ron Dickinson, @ron_dickinson, posted: “Yes, I fully support @ thesnp tax changes. About time we had tax powers to mitigate failed Tory #Austerity.”

Father Mark Warters, @ markwarters, agreed.

He tweeted: “If it goes towards public services, which we were told it is, then I’m happy to pay more. Police, NHS and Schools suffering at the moment and need a boost.”

A poster from Dundee, @ Jungel62, said: “Yes and that’s as someone who will now pay the highest band.”

He added: “Oh, did I mention that my daughter is off to Uni in the summer? Free of charge btw. Thank you SNP.”

@Arghwhippets stressed: “It’s pennies for those that can easily afford it. And the ben- efits of free prescriptions, free tuition, free bridges, amongst others is a no-brainer. Anyone who thinks a few pennies is not worth it has only to look at England, and all the extras they’d have to pay for.” Andy Dorin, @Dorinandy, exclaimed: “I am happy to pay a little more tax to support essential services.”

However, not all posters were willing to applaud the Scottish National Party for making Scots earning more than £26,000 a year pay more income tax than workers in other parts of the UK on a similar salary.

@Borderbabe1 said: “I would gladly pay more if I knew for certain that every penny of the extra tax was going towards NHS, non University education, roads etc. Not on yet another expensive virtue signalling project designed to up the profile of the SNP Govt.”

Tracey Shaw, @garagegirl72, pointed out: “The link on Scotsman’s fb page has >1000 votes and is mainly no’s.”

John Macleod, @johnmacleod19, continued: “Changes to our taxes not theirs, Holyrood is den of thieves!”