Marker has been set by higher tax

Mr John Swinney is such a charming, intellectually gifted and hard working public servant that I find it difficult to disagree with him. He is also a highly skilled politician.

In his feature in last week’s Blairie he talks of the desire to reduce the attainment gap in the educational achievement of one of Scotland’s most precious commodities – its young people.

Imagine a local football team that was performing disappointingly – I know that is hard to imagine! Let us assume that the manager brings in a new coaching system.

Every member of the team improves. It so happens that the best players make the biggest improvement. The team advances up the league. The performance gap within the team has increased but the team’s success is a source of joy to the players and its supporters.

Reducing an attainment gap is not a wise objective. Much more helpful to Scotland’s future would be a rise in standards in all even if that means a greater diversity of achievement.

The issue of Scotland’s wealthier population being more highly taxed than similar folk in the rest of the UK is also on first glance a sensible move. They can well afford it. For the very wealthiest £400 a year is trivial.

For those just caught by the freezing of the 40% tax threshold in Scotland, the result will be a little bit less cash in the pocket as compared with friends taxed south of the border. For a lucky couple who both earn enough to pay 40% income tax, the sum is £800.

Imagine such a couple with an option to live in Carlisle or Dumfries.

An additional £800 tax is not likely to be the most important factor in their decision about where to reside but at the margins it will have an effect. After all the sensible suggestion that there should be minimal pricing of units of alcohol is designed to bring change in behaviour. Taxation affects behaviour.

I fear that a marker has been set. Scotland will have a marginally higher tax environment than the rest of the UK. Will that be a trend? Will the gap with the rest of the UK slowly widen? Will that affect business decisions about where to locate? We must all remember that while tax like death is unavoidable, where to reside is optional.

The poorest off in Scotland who depend on public expenditure will be short changed if government decisions about tax drive away the higher earners and leave those remaining to bear an extra tax burden.

I quite appreciate that for our politicians it is easy to appeal to us as the electorate by reminding us that there are fat cats who can surely be made to pay more. Wise politicians looking to the future health of Scotland must have a more thoughtful view about the longer-term effects of such a policy.