Labour spin doctors scolded

LABOUR SPIN doctors have been scolded by one of their own MSPS because of emails which revealed “a screw-up” over their failure to vote against a tax cut for the rich.

Finance spokesman and former leadership candidate Ken Macintosh said Labour could perhaps learn “a little bit more political savvy, a bit of better news management and a bit of political spin” following Tuesday’s revelations.

The leaked emails show Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls’ political adviser Alex Belardinelli admitting to “a screw- up” that led to a Labour no-show for an Snp/plaid Cymru vote in the Commons against the UK Government’s cut in the top rate of tax from 50p to 45p.

Later Alan Gillam, political adviser to Shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran, advised Scottish Labour’s press office to “hold off releasing (the) line in Scotland just yet, in the hope that it is ignored”.

During a debate on the Budget in Holyrood yesterday evening, Finance Secretary John Swinney hailed “the absolutely marvellous email trail of transparency that the Labour Party presides over”.

He said: “It’s the first time that Labour has been shy putting out press lines to the media. It’s better than any freedom of information request I’ve had to authorise, I can tell you, and it didn’t even cost us any money.”

During the debate Mr Swinney criticised the top-rate tax cut, the rise in income tax for pensioners, increases in VAT, national insurance and fuel duty, as well as cuts to tax credits, child benefit and housing benefit.

However, he said he was “a fair man” and welcomed tax relief on decommissioning oil platforms, more generous oil field allowances, enhanced capital for three Scottish enterprise areas and tax breaks for the video games industry.

Tory MSP Gavin Brown said the SNP and Labour should have welcomed cuts to corporation tax and the rise in the income tax threshold to £9,205 in a Budget which he said did “a number of good things for Scotland”.

He added: “This is a Budget which focuses very much on the economy. It focuses on stability and it focuses on trying to help low and middle-income earners, in particular with the increase in the threshold.”

Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said the Budget had delivered a major advance towards his party’s com- mitment to raising the income tax threshold to £10,000.

“This significant development helps make work pay. It helps millions of low and middle-income payers striving to improve their lives through work.”

Labour MSP Anne Mctaggart stated: “George Osborne’s Budget gives the rich prosperity and the rest austerity.”

Fellow Labour politician Margaret Mcculloch asked what those looking for work would “think of a Government that puts tax cuts for the richest 1% of earners in the country before the prospects of claimants who are struggling to find work and support a household”.