Just two days after the much-hyped launch of his “booklet” on the economics of independence, the First Minister refused to say how he would pay for his long list of promises.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson also challenged Alex Salmond over his claims that a separate Scotland could continue to use Sterling without agreement with the Treasury or Bank of England, and take none of the debt from the break-up of the UK.

She warned this would lead to taxes going up to pay for all of the First Minister’s spending pledges, while under independence the country would struggle to borrow money to help pay for services.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson MSP said:

“Alex Salmond has produced 71 pages of something about nothing.

“Rather than giving people a clear picture of a separate Scotland’s economic future, his so-called economic booklet poses more questions than answers.

“He has had six years in government to think about how he would pay for welfare and benefits and to provide answers to key questions on pensions and currency.

“But, with just 15 months until the referendum, he is treating voters with utter contempt over his inability to give basic facts about independence.

“All we have had from Alex Salmond so far are ludicrous claims and sums that don’t add up.

“Even his hosts at the economic booklet launch said the lack of detail made it ‘ridiculous’ to suggest companies could properly judge if they would be better or worse off.

“Alex Salmond’s Pinocchio-like grandstanding on important issues like the economy insults the people of Scotland who are looking for real answers.”

“Salmond’s threat to ditch debt in sterling struggle”

http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/referendum-news/salmonds-threat-to-ditch-debt-in-sterling-struggle.21143494

(The Times, May 22, 2013)

Angus Armstrong, director of macroeconomic research at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said:

“Based on past precedent and on equity grounds, an independent Scotland would be expected to take its share of public sector debt.

“The question really is: what is a fair share? The starting point is usually a per capita or population share.”

When asked whether independence would help or hinder his company’s business with the UK, Bill Simpson, corporate affairs director for Alexander Dennis, said: “I really haven’t a clue. We don’t know the detail of any financial or banking structure, so to speculate about that would be just ridiculous, to be honest with you.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/may/21/independent-scotland-economy-thrive-salmond

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The number of those to have accessed medication not routinely available on the NHS in England has now reached 28,000 since its creation in late 2010.

Given England has roughly ten times the population of Scotland, it means 2,800 people north of the border would have had the same access to life-extending drugs had the Scottish Government created the facility.

Instead, the SNP has repeatedly refused to set up a fund, meaning cancer patients in Scotland have been placed at a significant disadvantage.

The issue was again raised today at First Minister’s Questions, with both Labour and the SNP agreeing the system of access to rare drugs had to be fixed, though neither proposed how this would be done.

The Scottish Conservatives have repeatedly called on the creation of a £10 million cancer drugs fund to help those who need medication not routinely available through the NHS.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman and deputy leader Jackson Carlaw MSP said:

“What we heard in the Scottish Parliament today was two sides saying the system needed to be fixed, without having the foggiest idea on how it could be done.

“We’ve never said the cancer drugs fund would be absolute solution to this – but it is far better to have something saving lives now than to wait years for measures which may or may not come.

“We see today from these figures that nearly 3,000 lives in Scotland could have been radically improved in the time England has enjoyed a fund.

“These are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives and siblings, all of whom could have had months of additional treasured moments with their loved ones.

“The issue of deciding which drugs can and cannot be used is hellishly complex, and that is the reason why we wanted this fund in the first place.

“It would be an ideal safety net for thousands of Scottish people, and the longer the SNP denies this, the more lives of vulnerable patients will be curtailed.”

Below is a UK Parliamentary Question showing the latest Cancer Drug Fund figures:

Norman Lamb (Minister of State, Department of Health):

“Since October 2010, the £650 million Cancer Drugs Fund has helped over 28,000 patients in England to access the drugs their clinicians believe will help them. NHS England has now taken on oversight of the fund, bringing even greater consistency to decision making.”

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm130422/text/130422w0007.htm

Below is a list of some of the cancer drugs not available routinely through the NHS, but which can be accessed in England through the cancer drugs fund:

Bevacizumab – Colo-rectal, breast and kidney. Some small-cell lung cancer. Experimental use in other areas such as some brain tumours.

Lapatanib – Breast Cancer. Experimental use in other areas.

Sorafenib – Kidney (specifically renal cell carcinoma). Experimental use in other areas.

Bendamustine – Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and CLL. Experimental use in other areas.

Eribulin – Breast cancer

Ipilumumab – Skin cancer (melanoma)

Vemurafenib – Skin cancer (melanoma)

The post New figures show 3,000 Scots would have benefited from cancer fund appeared first on Scottish Conservatives.

The Land and Buildings Transaction Tax plans were discussed in today’s finance committee in the Scottish Parliament.

Witnesses rounded on the partnerships element of the bill, with representatives from the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Law Society of Scotland branding them “a disgrace”, “a dog” and “a broken toy”.

The partnerships element of the legislation impacts on how business partnerships buy or sell buildings and land.

As a result, the Scottish Conservatives have called on the Scottish Government to withdraw the partnerships proposals and work with experts on coming up with an appropriate replacement.

The Scottish Conservatives have already criticised the SNP for not accelerating the announcement of key details of the bill.

New rates for house sales and commercial transactions won’t be revealed until after the separation referendum, which could lead to uncertainty across the sector.

Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Gavin Brown MSP said:

“John Swinney has to withdraw the partnership provisions of this bill and set up a working group to sort it out.

“The SNP must listen to the advice of those who work in this area day-in, day-out.

“These were extremely serious people today coming out with very strong criticism of parts of this bill.

“This tax is supposed to be an improvement on stamp duty, but the Scottish Government has simply copy and pasted many elements of it into its own measures.

“There is time for the SNP to take these comments on board and I urge it to listen to the experts.”

The experts made the remarks at today’s finance committee in the Scottish Parliament on Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

The bill has already been criticised for delaying key announcements:

www.scottishconservatives.com/2013/04/snp-must-accelerate-stamp-duty-replacement/

Represented at the committee were Alan Barr, of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, and the Law Society of Scotland’s Isobel d’Inverno.

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Public sector workers in Scotland who were paid off over the past three years received an average settlement of nearly £40,000, a report will reveal tomorrow.

Audit Scotland said around one in 40 workers have been given an early departure deal since 2009, including council workers, NHS employees and central government staff.

The report – ‘Managing early departures from the Scottish public sector’ – said the total cost of pay-offs between 2010 and 20012 was around £550 million, with organisations now paying £280 million a year to slim down their workforce.

And while most bodies managed the system well, the paper found, there were major differences in how organisations monitored the costs involved, and how transparent they were about revealing the totals.

For example, some aim to recover the costs of a pay-out within a year, while others do so over much longer periods of time.

Despite the large numbers involved, Audit Scotland said there were signs that the reduction in workforce was leading to long-term savings.

Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser, convener of Holyrood’s economy committee, said:

“Private sector workers will look at these average pay-offs in disbelief, knowing fine well they would never be entitled to that kind of figure.

“Of course contracts have to be adhered to, but the public do wonder if these savings are being undermined by organisations throwing too much at golden goodbyes.

“It’s also interesting to see if, despite losing thousands of employees from a range of organisations, services generally received across Scotland has actually changed much.

“Unfortunately these efficiency savings are absolutely necessary, and without them we’d be facing a much more grave situation further down the line.

“But it’s vital taxpayer funded organisations like councils, the NHS and the police are not too generous when it comes to agreeing early departures.

“Many of those in receipt of these handshakes will go on to find lucrative work or enjoy a comfortable pension.”

The post Average public sector pay-off hits £40,000 appeared first on Scottish Conservatives.

The “booklet” was billed as an economic framework for independence but fails to set out whether taxes would go up or down.

It also fails to answer key questions on currency, pensions and how much a separate Scotland would have to borrow.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson MSP said:

“The irony seems lost on Alex Salmond that his economic booklet contains no actual detail on the economic consequences of separation.

“We have no idea whether taxes would go up or down and how much Scotland would have to borrow under independence.

“The public rightly want answers to key questions on currency, pensions and borrowing, but again the SNP have been found wanting.

“Once again Alex Salmond has resorted to gripe and grievance and blaming everything on Westminster because he is unable to articulate a positive economic case for an independent Scotland.

“The First Minister and Nicola Sturgeon claim independence will allow Scotland to do things differently, but they are far from keen to say exactly how they would do that.

“They complain about Labour running up debts in one breath, then criticise the UK government for reducing spending to deal with a debt crisis in the next.

“They dream of more ‘fiscal levers’ for Scotland on one page, but then admit they will give away Scotland’s control over its currency in the next.

“The reality is that today’s economic paper is nothing more than a re-run of the SNP’s past complaints with no new facts on what a separate Scotland might look like.

“Scotland benefits hugely from being part of the UK and the rest of Britain is better off for Scotland being a part of it.

“Today’s paper from the SNP does nothing to challenge that truth.”

Page 9 of the Scottish Government’s paper says:

“In terms of performance within the UK, the most recent data shows that, in terms of

GDP per capita in 2011, Scotland was positioned as the third highest nation or

region in the UK – behind London and the South East. Adding Scotland’s illustrative

geographical share of North Sea output increases Scottish GDP per head to around

118% of the UK average.”

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Eric McQueen said at today’s Justice Committee in the Scottish Parliament that where “justice centres” will be created, the SCS would have to look at shutting more courts.

This would be in addition to the 10 sheriff courts already due for closure, and 16 Justice of the Peace courts.

The Scottish Government wants to create justice centres – where a range of services including courts, police and social work would be housed under one roof – in the Borders, Fife, the Highlands and Lanarkshire.

But today, following questions from Scottish Conservative MSP John Lamont, Mr McQueen said the feasibility studies in relation to these centres would consider the closure of more courts in those areas.

Scottish Conservative Chief Whip John Lamont MSP said:

“This will come as a bombshell for rural communities right across the country.

“Given the backlash against courts closures, it’s incredible to discover that this may only be the beginning.

“The SNP rushed into this move, even though it has been well warned that it will result in huge inconvenience to witnesses and victims, and cause delays in an already overburdened system.

“Courts in towns across Scotland play a vital role in serving justice in those communities, and ensuring accountability is maintained in that area.

“It is extremely worrying that this service may be centralised even more so than it has been already, something that would make matters much worse than they are on course to be.”

Scottish Courts Service Chief Executive Eric McQueen confirmed in today’s Justice Committee that more courts may be closed as part of the possible rolling out of justice centres. He was answering questions from Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont.

The Scottish Courts Service, with the support of the Scottish Government, is working on proposals to create justice centres. Its recommendations are: “We are in no doubt that the optimal future model in the longer term is for purpose built justice centres in key strategic population centres including, the Borders, Fife, Lanarkshire and the Highlands to complement the existing high quality courts that we already have in many of Scotland’s cities. While we recognise that achievement of our longer term vision requires significant future investment, we believe that such an investment would provide Scotland with the service model for justice delivery it deserves.”

The Scottish Conservatives have repeatedly criticised the court closures plan:

www.scottishconservatives.com/2013/04/snp-approves-court-closure-plans/

www.scottishconservatives.com/2013/04/video-links-no-replacement-for-local-courts/

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The Group is re-examining the 2003 Land Reform (Scotland) Act, and how communities in Scotland could benefit from further land reform.

Phase Two will consider what steps can be taken to encourage community ownership, management and use of land.

Scottish Conservative Rural Affairs Spokesman Alex Fergusson MSP said:

“We welcome the Group’s determination to look at a wide array of issues, such as why community ownership has been more popular in some parts of Scotland than others and how we can improve engagement with affordable housing and community growing.

“These important steps could result in communities having a greater say in the management of the land that surrounds them.

“However, all successful community land acquisitions require two basic elements – namely a willing buyer and a willing seller.

“We therefore remain concerned that the necessity of a willing seller or land owner as part of any community involvement is not addressed in the Interim Report.

“Having made representations to the LRRG during the consultation phase, I very much hope that this is not an issue that will be swept under the carpet during the next stage of the LRRG’s work.”

Information about the Land Reform Group is available on the Group’s website at www.landreformreview.org.

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Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has tabled Parliamentary Orders to close ten sheriff courts and 13 Justice of the Peace courts as part of Scottish Government budget cuts.

However, the Scottish Conservatives have joined opposition parties in tabling motions to annul the orders in a bid to stop the closures.

The move comes despite warnings that the remaining courts will not be able to cope with such an increase in cases, and that witnesses, victims and staff will now face longer and more inconvenient journeys.

It means those courts still in operation will have to hear at least another 10,000 cases a year.

The Scottish Government also announced earlier this year that a significant number of civil claims from the Court of Session would also be moved to sheriff courts.

Scottish Conservative Chief Whip John Lamont MSP said:

“The Justice Secretary is forging ahead with these unpopular proposals despite opposition from communities and even some of his fellow MSPs.

“This move will force victims and witnesses of crime to travel further and could lead to trials being delayed.

“It will also result in the remaining courts having to deal with more than extra 10,000 cases every year.

“However, there is still time to save these courts if SNP MSPs on the Justice Committee, such as Christine Grahame, stand up for their local community and vote to annul the Orders.

“This will then bring the issue before the full parliament and force Kenny MacAskill to come before MSPs to justify why he is reducing access to justice in places such as Peebles, Duns, Stonehaven and Motherwell.”

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