Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 28 March 2012
28 Mar 2012 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
UK Government Budget
I do not normally feel sorry for the Tories, and I suspect that charity will be in short supply in today’s debate, but Conservatives must have winced with each successive headline that they read this past week. The budget was the most trailed in living memory, with leaks about a package of measures specifically for Scotland and help for the oil and gas industry—a lot of supposedly good news stories. The days of strict budget purdah seem to be far behind us.
The chancellor failed, however, to mention that his headline measure, the much-heralded tax break for top-rate taxpayers, was to be subsidised by freezing the personal allowances of pensioners. Nearly everything in the budget was well publicised, except for the granny tax.
I suspect that some members on the Tory side of the chamber think that, with a little more political savvy, a bit of better news management and a bit of political spin, the budget could have been handled better—those on our own side could perhaps learn from recent days too, but that misses the point. The granny tax sums up for most people what is wrong not only with the Tory budget, but with the Tory Government.
The budget is fundamentally unfair and is failing in its prime objective of getting the economy going. No one understands why giving more money to millionaires will improve our country’s economic prospects, whereas most understand that it is not right to punish those on fixed incomes who are entering retirement.
The chancellor failed, however, to mention that his headline measure, the much-heralded tax break for top-rate taxpayers, was to be subsidised by freezing the personal allowances of pensioners. Nearly everything in the budget was well publicised, except for the granny tax.
I suspect that some members on the Tory side of the chamber think that, with a little more political savvy, a bit of better news management and a bit of political spin, the budget could have been handled better—those on our own side could perhaps learn from recent days too, but that misses the point. The granny tax sums up for most people what is wrong not only with the Tory budget, but with the Tory Government.
The budget is fundamentally unfair and is failing in its prime objective of getting the economy going. No one understands why giving more money to millionaires will improve our country’s economic prospects, whereas most understand that it is not right to punish those on fixed incomes who are entering retirement.
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott)
Con
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-02494, in the name of John Swinney, on the United Kingdom Government budget.15:57
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth (John Swinney)
SNP
The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s budget and the broadly unchanged economic forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility confirm the fragile state of the...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con)
Con
Does the cabinet secretary seriously believe that the increase in the income tax threshold will not help families and households up and down the country?
John Swinney
SNP
If we consider that on its own, with no other factor taken into account, Mr Brown perhaps has a point but, as I will discuss later, we must also to take into...
Willie Rennie (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD)
LD
The cabinet secretary has just talked about not looking at things in isolation, so surely he should look at the triple lock on pensions that has been deliver...
John Swinney
SNP
I would encourage Mr Rennie to think twice about his analogies. The triple lock looks as though it is the triple lock of giving people an increase in the sta...
Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab)
Lab
Is Mr Swinney aware of the Labour Party’s stance on the 50p rate before the budget, during the budget and now?
John Swinney
SNP
I heard what the stance was before the budget and I heard about it during the debate on the budget but, when it came to the vote—the point at which they coul...
Gavin Brown
Con
Two minutes ago, the cabinet secretary was saying that the budget would do nothing for the economy. He is now on to the third part of the budget that he says...
John Swinney
SNP
It just demonstrates that I am an entirely fair man, in that I tell it as it is.The budget included three welcome measures: a measure to repair the damage th...
Willie Rennie
LD
If the cabinet secretary is a fair man, why does his motion not include a single mention of the substantial increase in the tax threshold? If he is a fair ma...
John Swinney
SNP
I have talked at length about the increase in personal tax allowances, and I have also talked at length about the cost at which that comes and the damage tha...
Ken Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab)
Lab
I do not normally feel sorry for the Tories, and I suspect that charity will be in short supply in today’s debate, but Conservatives must have winced with ea...
Gavin Brown
Con
Just to get rid of the hyperbole, is it Ken Macintosh’s view that somebody who earns £151,000 a year is a millionaire?
Ken Macintosh
Lab
No, but the point is that someone on £150,000 is in the top earning bracket, and it is not right for a Government that says that we are all in it together to...
Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con)
Con
If Labour is so fond of high taxation, why did it put the highest rate of tax up to 50p only one month before it lost the 2010 election? Would Ken Macintosh ...
Ken Macintosh
Lab
That is a series of questions. We introduced the top rate of tax as a temporary measure. We are not in favour of high taxes per se but, in a recession, if on...
Willie Rennie
LD
Will Ken Macintosh confirm that if it came to power in 2015, the Labour Party would take the tax rate back up to 50p?
Ken Macintosh
Lab
The 50p tax rate was introduced to pay for public services and to get the economy going. The simple answer is that we will make that assessment on its merits...
Stuart McMillan (West Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
We have heard much of what the member has to say, we have read the proposals in Labour’s amendment and we have seen what has happened since the Welfare Refor...
Ken Macintosh
Lab
I appreciate the subject that Mr McMillan has raised, but it is outrageous for a member of the SNP to question Inverclyde Council when 89 per cent of the cut...
The Minister for Local Government and Planning (Derek Mackay)
SNP
Can the member explain why it is that, under the SNP Government, the spending share that goes to local government is higher than the one we inherited from th...
Ken Macintosh
Lab
I am sorry, but talking about the spending share disguises the fact that 89 per cent of the cuts fall on local councils. I suggest that Mr Mackay should argu...
The Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy (Bruce Crawford)
SNP
Will the member give way?
Ken Macintosh
Lab
I had better make some progress, Presiding Officer.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Con
You have two minutes.
Ken Macintosh
Lab
My goodness.I was going to say that there is much common ground between Labour and the SNP on the economic agenda, because we agree that the budget is both u...
Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con)
Con
What a typically ungenerous, uncharitable, ungracious set of contributions to start the debate. The contributors could not even bring themselves to welcome t...
Ken Macintosh
Lab
Why, therefore, has the OBR revised downwards its forecast for growth from more than 2.5 per cent to 0.8 per cent?
Gavin Brown
Con
Just as I am attacking the SNP, Mr Macintosh steps in to their defence and tries to pull together the unholy alliance that has formed today—a very shaky alli...