THERESA May has taken a swipe at the SNP over plans to introduce a new tax on workplace parking spaces – despite a similar scheme already operating in England.
The Prime Minister listed it among a number of policies which she said showed the Nationalists were “betraying” the people of Scotland.
It comes after a last-minute Budget deal between the SNP and the Greens opened the door to a wave of new local taxes.
This includes handing councils the power to bring in a levy on staff parking spaces – a move which was introduced in England almost two decades ago.
Mrs May’s attack came after she was challenged over Brexit by SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, who said 100,000 jobs would be at risk in Scotland under a no-deal scenario.
Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions, he urged Scottish MPs to back an SNP amendment calling for no-deal to be taken off the table – or “betray” voters in Scotland.
But Mrs May hit back: “I’ll tell him what’s betrayed voters in Scotland – an SNP Scottish Government that has raised income tax so people in Scotland are paying more in income tax than anywhere else in the UK, an SNP Scottish Government that has broken its manifesto promise and raised the cap on annual council tax increases for home owners, and an SNP Scottish Government that means people are facing the prospect of an extra tax for parking their car at their workplace.
“And all of that in a year in which the Scottish Government’s block grant from Westminster went up. The real people betraying the people of Scotland are the SNP Scottish Government.”
Plans for a workplace parking levy have already been criticised by unions, business leaders and opposition parties.
They point to similar proposals in Nottingham, which resulted in charges of more than £400 a year for those who drove to work.
While the parking tax is charged to employers, they can choose to pass on the costs to their staff.
Powers to introduce such a tax in England were put in place by the Transport Act 2000.
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