Meeting of the Parliament 17 March 2016
It is obvious that no analysis or evidence base has been put forward. Incredibly, if we run through the minutes of meetings of the First Minister’s Council of Economic Advisers from any point in the past year, we see that the new tax powers do not even merit discussion. That was evident yesterday, when we saw the Deputy First Minister on the television looking like a rabbit in the headlights as he talked about how those powers will be used.
I do not want to see a sign at the border that says “Higher taxes here”. I think that that is the wrong choice for Scotland, and I am not the only one who thinks that. In this morning’s press, Jack Perry, the former chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, wrote:
“a further tax grab ... will only weaken our tax base and depress the economy. That will do nothing to help support schools, hospitals and an ageing population.”
Mr Perry ran Scotland’s main enterprise body for five and a half years. He is not a politician. I ask the First Minister: why is he wrong?