SNP Welcomes Increased Powers Call

SNP welcomes increased powers call

Nationalists have welcomed a call by 13 economists for MSPs to be given greater powers over taxation.

The academics claimed Holyrood's lack of financial levers was damaging the country's economic prospects.

The call, in a letter to The Sunday Times, comes as academics at Edinburgh University said the ability of Scots to improve their position in society has declined.

The report by Cristina Iannelli and Lindsay Paterson also suggested that educational reform - a devolved responsibility - could not significantly affect social mobility without wider policies to promote equality of opportunity.

SNP enterprise spokesman Jim Mather said it was increasingly clear that Scotland must take control of tax and immigration policy.

He also pointed to a new UK-wide graduate incentive scheme which Scots universities warn could weaken the advantage they are supposed to have under the Fresh Talent scheme to boost Scotland's flagging population.

"Academics faced with a real challenge are always going to come up with a high integrity solution; that is Scotland controlling its destiny because from the experience of every other country on the planet that is what works," Mr Mather said.

"You either hold on to enlightened national self-interest and prosper or give it away and get mediocre results.

"Having given away our fiscal powers, our immigration policy and our resources, oil or renewables, it's time for Scotland to call that back in and run the country in the best interests of the Scottish people."

In their letter, the academics, led by Professor Ronald MacDonald of Glasgow University, argue for increased fiscal powers, especially over taxation, for Holyrood.

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2005, All Rights Reserved.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2386082005

Letters: Increased fiscal power essential

THE recent discussion in The Sunday Times of increased powers for the Scottish parliament is timely. As a group of university economists, with a wide range of political beliefs and backgrounds, we write to argue the case for increased fiscal powers, especially over taxation, for the Scottish parliament.

Increased fiscal responsibility is essential for the prudent management of Scottish government spending and, ultimately, of the Scottish economy. There are three aspects we would like to emphasise.

The kind of bloc grant fiscal settlement that Scotland currently has — in the form of “Barnett” — inevitably leads politicians to devote their time to spending the monies, and such spending is highly unlikely to take regard of fiscal efficiency or, indeed, the preferences of the electorate with respect to the appropriate level of government spending financed out of taxes.

Second, Scottish politicians under the current regime have no incentive to improve Scotland’s economic growth, since any extra tax revenue they may generate by improving growth performance would find its way into the coffers of the Treasury in Westminster.

Perhaps the most critical aspect of fiscal devolution that we would stress is that it gives politicians the opportunity to alter financial incentives facing companies and individuals.

For a small open economy on the periphery of Europe, an ability to alter the incentive structure is crucial. Although such incentives, by themselves, do not necessarily afford Scotland a silver bullet to improve its economic growth, their absence when much of the rest of the appropriate infrastructure is already in place is clearly damaging to Scotland’s economic prospects.

Ronald MacDonald, Glasgow; Neil Kay, Strathclyde; Angela Black, Aberdeen; Sheila Dow, Stirling; Anton Muscatelli, Glasgow; Robert Wright, Strathclyde; Farhad Noorbakhsh, Glasgow; Alex Kemp, Aberdeen; Paul Hallwood, Connecticut; Alistair Dow, Glasgow Caledonian; Martin Chalkley, Dundee; Richard Harris, Glasgow; John Struthers, Paisley

CULTURE OF BLAME: There may be some Scots who agree with James MacMillan’s view on the results of devolution for Scotland (Letters, last week), but still doubt the wisdom of a return to Westminster control.

As a composer who had some success in the years before Mr MacMillan was born, I have to disagree with him for placing all the blame on the Scottish parliament for the present state of the arts, and in particular that of music.

The blame lies elsewhere. The head of music post at BBC Scotland and in the various regions was abolished some years ago and London now dominates all control of national broadcasting. None of the so-called classical music which is still being created in Scotland now, nor many of the fine musicians who chose to live here and still play it, receive many broadcasts on Radio 3 any more — with the notable exception of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, which is in splendid form — and Radio Scotland itself is a total vacuum in that area.

This is no way to promote live music which was done in the past by the BBC. The Scottish parliament has no control over broadcasting, which remains with Westminster.


Robert Crawford
Edinburgh

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2090-1920548,00.html