Worries in the SNP ranks over FFA

This week the SNP’s plans for Full Fiscal Autonomy, economic independence within the UK, took another big hit. In the run-up to the General Election the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies claimed that full fiscal autonomy would leave Scotland facing an additional budget deficit of £7.6 billion- equivalent to two thirds of entire health spending.

Despite this the SNP has continued to press for economic independence and have included an amendment to the Scotland Bill calling for Full Fiscal Responsibility - the fancy new term for full fiscal autonomy coined by their spin doctors.

This week things got worse. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), another independent body, released findings showing that oil revenues had been overestimated by £35bn as a result of price fluctuations and market volatility.

When the SNP were chasing votes last September, the OBR predicted that oil tax receipts would total £37 billion between 2020 and 2040, now, in the wake of falling prices and increased costs the OBR have predicted that the tax take of the entire North Sea would only total £2bn.

A fiscally autonomous Scotland would find it almost impossible to maintain public services whilst dealing these huge shortfalls resulting in either huge cuts to public services or massive tax hikes for the working class.

What is more galling is that the SNP know this. The facade of party discipline is already slipping with East Lothian SNP MP George Kerevan calling FFA, “economic suicide” whilst Edinburgh East SNP MP Tommy Sheppard branded it “a silly thing to do.”

The SNP are playing chicken with Scotland’s public services.

Whilst publicly they press for full economic independence, privately they hope to be denied in order to stir up resentment and claim Westminster politicians did not keep their promises.

Even during the General Election, Nicola Sturgeon said that it would take a full five years to implement FFA, despite claiming last September that Scotland could be a fully independent nation within 18 months.

The truth is that we benefit from being a relatively autonomous nation within a much larger state which not only insulates public services from economic shocks but grants us an extra £1,200 to spend per head on public services.

The SNP need to come clean on full fiscal autonomy, as it is becoming ever more clear that we dodged a bullet by voting No in September last year.

Instead of crying out for more powers it is high time the Scottish Government started using the ones it already has.

The Scotland Bill and the powers devolved within it will make our parliament one of the strongest in the world.

Let’s stop sniping and start putting our heads together to make Scotland the best it can be and dropping full fiscal autonomy is the first step on this road.

Murdo Fraser MSP always welcomes feedback from constituents.

He can be contacted at 6 Gladstone Place, Stirling, FK8 2NN, telephone 01786 461200, email: Murdo.fraser. msp@scottish.parliament.uk

Let’s stop sniping and start putting our eads together to make Scotland the best it can be