Tax powers row: Time for the SNP to come clean

In a letter today from John Swinney to the Secretary of State for Scotland, the SNP is trying to avoid making a statement on its secret decisions to effectively ditch Scotland's tax powers because it wants to know the future costs of implementing recommendations from the Calman Commission.

Derek Brownlee MSP, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance & Sustainable Growth, said:

"That position is a red herring. It is a ludicrous position to adopt. The SNP is answerable for its actions, its omissions and its errors and this row is about the SNP's culpability in 2007 and 2010, not about any future Scottish Governments or future Scotland Acts yet to be implemented.

"John Swinney, Alex Salmond and the SNP have serious questions to answer. No amount of ministerial smoke and mirrors can hide their culpability. The SNP effectively neutered Holyrood's tax powers. The SNP has tied the hands of the next Scottish Government. The SNP denied the current parliament the use of these powers – including their own Local Income Tax proposals.

"Is this the real reason that the SNP dropped its local tax plans? It knew it had given them away and had engaged in a cover up?

"This week the SNP must come clean. Who took the decisions? Who knew? And when did they know?

"The SNP's has ridden roughshod over Scotland's powers. They were not the SNP's to give away."

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