Sturgeon’s tax plans
NICOLA Sturgeon’s demands for control of all taxes would hit women hardest, Labour has warned.
Yvette Cooper, one of the most senior women in Labour’s shadow cabinet, has attacked the First Minister’s claims on gender equality.
The shadow home secretary was in Glasgow to launch Scottish Labour’s women’s manifesto yesterday.
And she warned mothers and families, who are most dependent on public services and tax credits, would suffer most under the SNP’s ‘full fiscal autonomy’ plans.
Miss Sturgeon has insisted her MPs would table amendments demanding control of all taxes within a year of the General Election, despite the likelihood of Scotland being left nearly £10billion worse off. With the price of oil remaining at around half the SNP’s predic- tion last year, the Institute for Fiscal Studies predicts that this would blow a £9.7billion black hole in Scotland’s finances by 2019-20 on top of any cuts imposed by the UK Government.
The First Minister’s commitment to gender equality and a 50-50 cabinet is one of her proudest boasts, but Miss Cooper warned they will be of little comfort to women struggling because of cuts resulting from her crumbling economic plan.
‘In the end, it’s about what has been the impact on women’s lives. That’s what’s really going to matter across Scotland,’ she said. ‘What does it mean for women, what does it
mean for women’s equality, what does it mean for women and families?’
Miss Cooper was campaigning with Scots Labour deputy leader Kezia Dugdale and shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran in her Glasgow East seat, where she faces a battle against young SNP activist Natalie McGarry.
Labour’s offer to women, which Mrs Curran hopes will help swing the female vote, includes legislating for a 50 per cent quota for women on public boards, forcing companies with more than 250 employees to report their pay gap between men and women, and investing more than £2million in Women’s Aid Centres across Scotland.
Mrs Curran said: ‘When times are tough, it’s always women who lose out.’