Today sees the second day of the Committee stage of the Scotland Bill debated in the floor of the House of Commons, with the focus on the new tax arrangements and the government warning it is a make or break moment for SNP MPs who support Full Fiscal Autonomy (FFA) rather than the current plan to devolve some tax raising powers
Scottish secretary David Mundell said MPs will be faced with a ‘no brainer’ decision, claiming today marks ‘a deal or no deal moment for the fans of FFA’.
Under the current proposals, the Scotland Bill gives Holyrood £15bn worth of new tax and VAT powers. These include the power to set rates for income tax (including a 0% rate) and to keep of all the money raised in Scotland. In addition half of VAT raised in Scotland will stay in Scotland and the Scottish Parliament will also have control over Aggregates Levy and Air Passenger Duty.
Speaking ahead of today’s debate, Mundell described FFA as ‘a black hole plan that would cost Scotland the same amount as we currently spend on education and justice combined’.
‘This government will not accept amendments that are not good for Scotland. FFA would be bad for Scotland - leaving us with £10bn less to spend by the end of this Parliament,’ Mundell will say.
Mundell will also argue that the Scottish government’s recent update of its oil and gas bulletin also casts doubt on the case for FFA.
‘The Scottish government’s central estimates on oil revenues published recently are over 80% lower than those published before the referendum. This makes their current policy of full fiscal autonomy for Scotland all the more of a full fiscal shambles,’ he said.
