THE SNP has rejected a report calling for Holyrood to be given control over £22 billion a year in taxes – two-thirds of all revenue raised in Scotland.
The report, by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), said Scotland could collect 100% of income tax, a proportion of VAT, and alcohol, tobacco and air-passenger duties.
But Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "The only way Scotland can achieve control of our own resources and gain the powers that we need to grow the economy, create jobs, and have a fair welfare state is to vote yes in next year's referendum."
Former Labour chancellor Alistair Darling, who leads the Better Together campaign against Scottish independence, moved last night to brand the SNP "anti-devolution" for its response to the report.
He welcomed the report as a positive contribution to the devolution debate and seized on Ms Sturgeon's remarks, saying: "Given the opportunity to welcome proposals for further devolution, the Deputy First Minister made it clear that the Nationalists have no interest in anything other than full separation from the United Kingdom."
The IPPR, which has close ties to Labour, said that while the Scottish Parliament was due to get more tax powers through the 2012 Scotland Act, Westminster should go further and devolve even more powers, including all personal income tax and a range of smaller taxes, including a proportion of VAT.
The £22bn represents 60% of Scottish revenue. Under the proposed new powers, which would come into force in 2016, some 30% would be handed over to MSPs. The rest of devolved spending would continue to be funded by a grant from the UK Government based on need.
Highlighting that the SNP in 1989 refused to join the Constitutional Convention on Scottish devolution and in 2007 opposed the Calman Commission's recommendations for further devolution, Mr Darling added: "Once again, the Nationalists stand outside the devolution debate.
"It is increasingly clear that the choice for Scotland is between devolution and an uncertain and risky future outside the United Kingdom.
"We will continue to argue for the best of both worlds: a strong Scottish Parliament with the security and opportunities of a strong UK."
Mr Darling's welcome for the report suggests its ideas could feed into Scottish Labour's own policy review. Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont is preparing to publish an interim report on the party's thinking on further devolution this spring.
The general expectation is that Scottish Labour will argue for enhanced devolution, possibly devolving all income tax, to give a sharper edge to its fight against full independence and as a manifesto platform for the General Election in 2015 and the Holyrood election in 2016.
Constitutional expert Alan Trench, who wrote the report, said: "Devolution is about making the UK work better as a whole. It's clear that fiscal devolution needs to go a lot further than the Scotland Act 2012 does if it is to meet the aspirations of the people of Scotland or put the Scottish Government in a position to make its own policy choices."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article