Meeting of the Parliament 16 December 2015
Mr Fraser argued that I should have taken that step, and I can see why that would have suited him, but if I had done that, it would have led to an increase of 2.6 per cent in the income tax of high earners, but it would have increased the tax take from low-income households by 5 per cent. In other words, Mr Fraser was protecting the rich and punishing the poor, just as the Tories always do.
As for land and buildings transaction tax, when I stood here last year I was lectured ad infinitum by Gavin Brown about the fact that we had not raised the taxes that we said that we would raise. I have just put on record the performance in the first six and seven months of this financial year, which demonstrates that the tax take is on course to be delivered.
As for the suggestion that we have distorted the market, I will share with Parliament a quote by Christine Campbell, who is the managing director in Scotland of Your Move. She said that LBTT has given
“middle and ... lower tiers of the market ... a new lease of life ... This rapid ... growth in Scotland is grounded in the new LBTT rates, which are stimulating demand at the bottom and middle rungs of the property ladder.”
That is what I was determined to do. Here we again see the fault line between us and the Tories. I am pleased that the bottom and the middle of the market are doing so well; the Tories are only concerned about the top.
I look forward to the detailed scrutiny of the budget, because this Government has put forward a budget that is on the side of fairness in our society and improving opportunities in the economy, and we will defend that to Parliament and the people of Scotland.