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Hundreds of thousands of Scots now paying more tax

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2 Feb 2017

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Hundreds of thousands of Scots face paying more income tax after the SNP and the Greens conspired to vote through a high-tax budget.

Under the plans announced by the Scottish Government, 374,000 people will pay more than they would if they lived south of the border.

They include train drivers, nurse consultants and some teachers.

It is confirmation that finance secretary Derek Mackay’s budget will make Scotland the highest-taxed part of the UK.

The blow comes on top of additional rates being charged to businesses, another measure that will damage the economy and punish hardworkers.

Shadow finance secretary Murdo Fraser pointed out that the SNP used to believe low taxes would encourage growth and therefore provide more money for public services.

He added in today’s Holyrood stage one debate that the SNP had been persuaded of a left-wing agenda by the Greens, who will provide the support necessary to get the budget through.

Scottish Conservative shadow finance secretary Murdo Fraser said:

“Derek Mackay could drop his plans to make Scotland the highest-taxed part of the UK and work with us to deliver an ambitious budget focused on growing the economy.

“Instead, he’s turned hard left and embraced the anti-growth, anti-business agenda of the Greens.

“The SNP was well-warned by the business community as to the consequences of going further on tax than he originally intended. The Chambers of Commerce described it as ‘highly dangerous’.

“But the nationalists have shown contempt for the views of Scottish business, and have demonstrated they have zero interest in trying to help grow our under-performing economy.

“This is a weak, hesitant and dismal set of measures.

“The budget will see local services slashed while council taxes are being hiked, and cut funding to enterprise networks and reinforce reductions in college places when we should be doing the opposite.

“It sends out the message that the risk-taker, the wealth-creator, the entrepreneur, and the successful are not welcome here.

“Only the Scottish Conservatives champion the Scottish economy, are on the sides of businesses, taxpayers and hard-working families.”

In Scotland, there are 2,560,000 taxpayers in total, of which:

2,150,000 pay the basic rate (84.0 per cent);
356,000 pay the higher rate (13.9 per cent) and
18,000 pay the additional rate (0.7 per cent)
(HMRC, Table 2.2 Number of income taxpayers, by country, 18 May 2016, link).

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Scottish Conservatives • •

Speech: Greg Hands speech on smart cities

I would like to thank Mark [Prisk] for inviting me here today, and take this opportunity to recognise the important work of the APPG on smart cities.

You are a vital voice in a necessary debate, and I look forward to working with you and your members in my role as Minister of State at the Department for International Trade.

As recently as 20 years ago, the term smart cities would not have registered with most people – myself included!

It would have been incredulous to think of a city where every person could access real time information on where there was a free car parking space; a city where refuse collectors know exactly when your recycling bins are full; and where urban parks are designed to promote biodiversity, reduce CO2, and give you free wi-fi connection throughout.

But the pace of change has been astonishing.

This is all happening right now!

In London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, and other cities across the UK – services like these are becoming commonplace.

Though using data to understand and ultimately alleviate social problems is nothing new.

In the 19th Century, John Snow created the cholera maps, which located the source of London’s cholera epidemic in Soho.

At a similar time, Charles Booth’s surveys of working class life in London created the famous poverty maps which etched a street by street depiction of income levels across the capital.

We now live in a world where technology is ubiquitous and the ability to collect and access data is easier than ever before.

We also live in a world of finite resources, coupled with a population set to reach almost 10 billion by 2050, according to the UN.

This presents many challenges but also a golden opportunity to use technology to enhance economic development, sustainability and quality of life for people in urban environments from Manchester to Mumbai.

So, my commitment to you today is simple. The UK will seize this opportunity and this government will pull out all the stops to ensure British business leads the way in making the cities of the UK and the world smarter.

UK capability

There are 3 ways we will do this. First, we will continue building our domestic capability.

Innovate UK – the government’s innovation agency – has, over the last 5 years, invested nearly £100 million in projects to help our cities prepare for a sustainable future.

£32 million has been spent on the UK’s internet of things (IoT) programme, including Cityverve in Manchester – a smart city demonstrator that will help improve public services for local citizens, such as transport, energy, health and culture.

Bristol and Milton Keynes are internationally recognised as leaders in smart city technology. They are making use of sensors to monitor air pollution levels, energy usage, water consumption, and even living patterns at home to detect early signs of illness.

These examples are testament to the simple truth that open data requires open minds.

We must continue to see technology as a key that unlocks the potential of our cities – making them more responsive to their inhabitants.

Opportunities overseas

Whilst we build our domestic capability around smart cities, we must also be alive to the opportunity overseas, which brings me onto my second point.

Arup estimates that the global market for smart cities could be worth $400 billion per year by 2020.

The UK has internationally recognised strengths in integrating city-wide systems around transport, energy and security networks; as well as in data and spatial analytics.

Our excellent engineering and architectural firms have already used their urban planning and design expertise to create smart cities around the world.

And standards set by the British Standards Institute, on smart cities and the internet of things, are used the world over.

The possibilities are endless. These exportable capabilities can make the transport infrastructure of world cities more efficient, their healthcare providers more dedicated, and their emergency systems more responsive.

The Department for International Trade’s smart cities team will support UK companies in taking advantage of these overseas opportunities, as well as attracting inward investment for UK smart city projects.

The team and I will be in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, where we will be showcasing British expertise in cloud technology, sensors and artificial intelligence all on the UK stand.

British firms are already thriving abroad.

Space Syntax, our sponsors this evening, are working with AECOM on designing the growth of Saudi Arabia’s port city, Jeddah; over 30 countries have implemented Essex-based Telensa’s smart street lighting technology; and Finnish telecoms giant Nokia is investing in the Bristol is Open smart city initiative, which is being led by the local council and the University of Bristol.

In November, I accompanied the Prime Minister on her visit to India, where she and Prime Minister Modi announced an Anglo-Indian Partnership on smart cities and urban development, which could unlock £2 billion worth of business.

Running parallel to the visit, my department led a trade mission of UK companies to the India Tech Summit, before taking them onto Pune and Kochi to see the smart city opportunities first hand.

India’s ambition to create 100 smart cities provides UK firms with a huge opportunity.

In cities across Asia and Africa, smart cities aren’t a ‘nice to have’, but a social necessity. With India’s urban population expected to reach 590 million by 2030, the problems of resource depletion and demographic change are both immediate and acute.

This government will ensure our smart city capability is evolving to meet the needs of urban populations the world over.

Ways of working

My final point on how the UK can continue to lead the world in smart city capability, involves a change in how government and industry work together.

If individual UK companies are already garnering success overseas, imagine what we can achieve with greater levels of co-operation.

I would like to see our urban planners working with our security, transport and e-health specialist companies, so we can present a single UK smart city offer to the world.

This requires a step up in the co-operation between government and industry. A step we should look to take.

For if we are to lead the world in smart cities, our approach too has to be smart.

Conclusion

Before I close, I want to reiterate that the UK can be recognised as the global hub of smart city technology.

We should be bold in our thinking and use our already enviable capability in this area to make the world’s cities more sustainable, responsive and smart.

Our aim should be to make people’s lives easier and more enjoyable.

Indeed, it was Shakespeare who said, ‘What is a city but the people?’

It is an exciting challenge. But one that the UK is more than ready to accept.

Thank you.

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HM Government • • •

Overnight resurfacing work to begin on A483

The original proposal from the North Wales Trunk Road Agency, scheduled to begin next week, was to run 24/7 contraflow between J5 (Mold Road) and J6 (Gresford), with associated slip road closures, over a 6 to 8 week period – allowing for much needed resurfacing work to protect the road in the longer term. Having considered the concerns of the local community and the local authority, however, the Economy Secretary has determined that disruption would be too great and that a less disruptive, medium term solution should be pursued. 

Seven day-a-week work on overnight resurfacing, which will protect the road in the medium term whilst allowing traffic to flow as normal during the day, will now take place. Local residents should be aware that both the work and diversion will see an increase in the usual noise levels. Affected residents will be provided with details and every effort will be made to keep the impact to a minimum. 

Ken Skates said:

“Closing roads for long periods at peak times is never ideal for the economy but is often the only option in terms of delivering the quality infrastructure we need and expect. 

“On this occasion, however, I’ve taken the decision to deliver more medium term improvements to the road, having considered a full closure of this road during working hours to be too detrimental local communities and the economy.

“Night work has its limitations and is not without its issues however, in this instance, I think it offers the best solution for both making the necessary improvements to the road whilst allowing road users to continue their daily routine as usual.” 

The Welsh Government motorway and trunk road resurfacing programme will see over £17m spent on some 43 much needed resurfacing schemes across Wales by April. Of that over £10m is being invested in 36 schemes in North and Mid Wales. 

Advance notification of road closures and diversions will be well signposted and scheme details/updates will be posted on www.traffic-wales.com (external link). 

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Welsh Government • •

“Labour stands for stopping the cuts and investing in public services” – Kezia Dugdale

Thursday 2 February 2017

Below is the full text of Kezia Dugdale’s speech on the budget in the Scottish Parliament today:

Today this Parliament has an important decision to make. 

One of the most important it has ever made.

We can deliver on the promises the majority of us in this chamber made to the people of Scotland at last year’s election, when all but one party represented in this chamber said that we would stop the cuts to valued public services and invest in our economy instead.

Or we can walk by on the other side.

Walk by as teachers struggle with fewer resources with which to educate our children.

Walk by as more and more carers are reduced to fifteen minute visits to our elderly family members.

Or walk by as welfare advisers who support those most in need face even more cut backs.

Now I listened to the First Minister very carefully at lunchtime today and she said this to Ruth Davidson.

She said: “Given the pressure on public services as a result of Tory austerity, it would be wrong to cut taxes for the top 10 per cent of income earners.”

Equally, however, it would be wrong to take that Tory austerity and pass it on to the poorest Scots in the face of these public service cuts.

And Labour isn’t prepared to do that.

I got into politics to stand up for the very people who will be hit hardest by the SNP’s cuts.

And I also heard the First Minister refer to Labour’s position on the budget as somehow playground politics.

So can I say to her: I met with Derek Mackay several times throughout this budget process.

And I spoke to him on the phone as well.

Those conversations were cordial and they were constructive.

And I know he knows that and I know he would agree with that.

So I reject the suggestion that the Labour Party has been playing games.

We have been very clear from the outset.

We said the price for our vote was no cuts to public services.

The more they try to bait me to say that Labour was never serious about engaging in this budget, the more inclined I might be to say exactly what we were talking about in those meetings.

Because the truth is, Presiding Officer, in those meetings this Finance Secretary spent the first half of the meeting telling me there were no cuts, and then the rest of the meeting saying “how much do you need to get rid of those cuts, we won’t do it after all”.

Completely duplicitous.

The Finance Secretary said to me that he had no mandate to increase taxes.

He said he had no mandate in his manifesto to increase taxes.

And I said to him he has no mandate for these cuts to public services either.

And in the concession he has given to the Green Party today to move away from his manifesto commitment on the higher rate of income tax, he has abandoned that principle of sticking to his manifesto.

And it leaves him open to the accusation: why not use that 50p top rate of tax?

You have moved away from your manifesto once, do it again in the name of protecting vital public services.  

And it has been Labour who has been honest enough to say that if we want high quality universal public services then we have to talk about how we pay for them and, crucially, who pays for them.

That’s why we have tabled an amendment to use the tax powers of this Parliament to stop the SNP’s millions of pounds worth of cuts to local schools and care of the elderly.

Services that are the very fabric of our communities across the country and services that the Labour Party will always fight for.

But Labour’s amendment isn’t just about stopping the cuts.

It’s about growing the economy.

Because for Scotland’s economy to thrive we need strong public services.

That means good, well-funded schools giving young people the skills they need to compete for the jobs of the future.

And it means investing in the infrastructure projects essential to businesses across the country.

In this globalised world, if we are to fight for our futures we need to be able to attract that investment into Scotland.

We are competing with the world’s major economies for investment and jobs.

Nations like China and India are investing to grow their economy.

Scotland must, and should, do the same.

But the SNP’s budget does the opposite.

The employers looking for a high-skilled, well educated workforce will go elsewhere if we don’t invest in the greatest resource this country has – its people.

And we know that the SNP’s constant threat of another independence referendum isn’t good for our economy either.

And it certainly isn’t good for our future prosperity.

If Scotland were ever to leave the UK we know it would be devastating to the public services that we all value.

And that is why Labour will not and cannot back any SNP plan to impose another referendum on the people of Scotland.

There is a different path that is available to us because of the new powers of this Parliament.

Powers that so many of us fought for.

It is our responsibility to put them to good use.

Because this Parliament doesn’t have to be a conveyor belt for Tory austerity.

And that’s why we have come to this chamber with an alternative to the SNP’s millions of pounds worth of cuts.

In fact, we are the only party to have tabled any amendments to this budget.

But I make no apologies for saying that Labour will not vote for a SNP budget that imposes millions worth of cuts on local services like schools and care for the elderly.

We just won’t do it.

It would be a betrayal of the voters who sent us here in the first place.

I know the impact of the SNP’s cuts from my own work in Edinburgh.

I want to make a particular appeal here to Patrick Harvie.

He has campaigned against austerity his entire political life.

And he has spent the months since the government published its draft budget warning about the impact of the SNP’s cuts on communities across Scotland.

I agree with him.

All I ask is that he maintains his opposition to the cuts to local services like schools and care of the elderly.

Here’s what the Green manifesto actually called for:

–          A 60p top rate of tax

–          A 43p higher rate of tax.

These were the lofty progressive ambitions of the Greens and today they have settled to be the fig leaf the Nationalists so desperately want and desperately need.

The tax changes announced today constitute £29million of new money.

That’s one tenth of the money we need to stop the cuts, and it’s one thirtieth of the amount of money the Greens’ manifesto said was needed to stop the cuts.

To accept anything less than bold use of this Parliament’s tax powers is an astonishing and deeply disappointing revelation from the Greens.

Let’s not kid ourselves – this isn’t the Greens’ responsibility to Parliament shining through.

It’s their responsibility they’ve put on themselves to do nothing which might jeopardise the prospect of another divisive independence referendum.

Nationalism first.

Austerity second.

And somewhere down their list you might just find their environment credentials if you look hard enough.

If the Greens vote for this budget tonight, a budget that passes Tory Austerity on to Scots in the face of a better way, it will be remembered as the day the Greens abandoned any claim to be a party of the progressive left.

We can all remember Nicola Sturgeon the anti-austerity crusader from the 2015 General Election.

Now she has become the Minister for Cuts.

The nationalists who claim to be stronger for Scotland now want to weaken our public services and rip the heart out of our communities.

Today all parties have the chance to back up their previous commitments with action.

To say to the people of Scotland that the policies we put forward aren’t just to get through an election but are promises to be delivered.

It’s make your mind up time.

Labour stands for stopping the cuts and investing in public services.

There is a better way and I ask members to join Labour in that fight.

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Scottish Labour • •

Only Labour will rewrite the rules of our economy and deliver the investment needed to rebuild and transform our country – John McDonnell

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, commenting on today’s growth forecast from the Bank of England, said:

“While we welcome today’s growth forecasts, projections for wage growth in coming years have been cut. This will come as little surprise to those whose incomes are still below where they were ten years ago as a result of a rigged economy under the Tories.

“Yesterday the Resolution Foundation warned of the worst period of income growth for middle and low earners since the 1960s. After seven years of Tory failure, there is little sign of an end to the pressure on living standards for most of the population.”

“Only Labour will rewrite the rules of our economy and deliver the investment needed to rebuild and transform our country so that no one and no community is left behind.”

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Labour • • •