Ross: U-turn on top tax the right decision

THE Chancellor was right to scrap his plans to cut the top rate of income tax, Douglas Ross has said.

The Scottish Tory leader said Kwasi Kwarteng had made the ‘right decision’ and defended the rest of his growth plan. He said the SNP must now close the tax gap facing 2.4 million Scots.

Although Mr Kwarteng has U-turned on scrapping the 45p rate, tax rates in the rest of the UK will still be lowered.

Unless the SNP reduces its basic and intermediate rates to 19p – from 20p and 21p currently – the gap between Scotland and the rest of the UK will grow.

Mr Ross said: ‘The best part of the Government’s growth plan will remain and the area that caused the most concern has gone. Politicians have to listen and respond – and that’s exactly what the Chancellor has done.

‘But let’s look at this package of measures in the round – it is right that helping families through the cost-ofliving crisis has been at the forefront of the political agenda.’

He added: ‘We need to hear from Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney what they are going to do about the current situation, where if nothing changes 2.4million people will be (paying) more tax in Scotland to do the exact same job (as workers) south of the Border.’

He said he wanted to see ‘parity in the tax system across the United Kingdom’ and urged the Scottish Government to act to make Scotland a more attractive place to work and do business from.

An updated analysis by the Chartered Institute of Taxation yesterday estimated that, unless the Scottish Government

cuts income tax, someone earning £25,000 will pay £102 more in Scotland than the rest of the UK, rising to £2,420 at £100,000.

The gap will still grow for those on more than £150,000 paying the top rate of tax, but not by as much as previously.

Someone earning a £175,000 salary will pay £4,046 more in Scotland, down from £4,546 under the previous plan, while an income of £500,000 will attract £6,546 more tax in Scotland, compared to £24,046 previously.

Miss Sturgeon yesterday claimed that the ‘whole package’ of measures taken by the Conservatives to boost the economy needs a rethink.

Speaking to STV News, she said: ‘The decisions that they took and announced in the so-called mini-Budget sent the economy into a downward spiral, and sent the financial markets into a downward spiral that has a real impact on people across the country in higher costs of borrowing, higher mortgage rates and higher debt repayments generally. So I think the whole thing needs rethought.

‘This is a government that appears to be more interested in ideological posturing than it is in the health and the wellbeing and financial security of people across the country.’

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack praised the Chancellor, saying he had ‘stuck to all the other growth measures’ in the miniBudget ‘particularly helping businesses and people with their energy crisis’.