IAIN AD Mann hit the nail on the head with his contention that more powers will over taxation will not increase the cash available to the Scottish Government (Letters, June 30).
Why do the media, not to mention the politicians, persist in turning a blind eye to the reality? Rather than just question the role of the Smith Commission, Mr Mann could have quoted Paragraph 78 of its report: "The Scottish Government will receive all income tax paid by Scottish taxpayers on their non-savings and non-dividend income with a corresponding adjustment in the block grant received from the UK Government, in line with the funding principles set out in paragraph 95".
While that does not mention "assigned" VAT, it is virtually certain that Para 78 would apply there, too. It could not be otherwise; the English consider that their taxpayers are subsidising us because we are not self-sufficient. Yet, here we are, from their standpoint, increasing our tax-take to increase our spending, while their subsidy continues, and our per capita advantage is enhanced. They will be incandescent if they find we would be getting away with it. And the calculation of the block grant under Barnett would have to continue, albeit notionally, as our basic block grant funding would still be predicated upon what year-on-year enhancements England receives on the comparable programmes - and Barnett is clawing back the money poured into Scotland by Westminster governments in the post-war years, to thwart the nationalist threat, at a rate of some £259m per year, so it is not advantageous to us.
My previous interpretation of the so-called new tax powers was that we would need to increase income tax by 1p every two years or so to replace the £250m Barnett squeeze, but, now, if we did that, the tax proceeds would come off the block grant anyway, so it would all be smoke and mirrors.
Douglas R Mayer,
76 Thomson Crescent, Currie.
ADMITTEDLY, David Cameron had no choice when it came to appointing a Scottish Secretary, David Mundell MP being his one and only, but the voters of Scotland did have a choice and at the General Election chose to overwhelmingly reject Mr Cameron and his austerity cuts. Now we know that Scotland will be one of the areas worst hit by the new round of welfare cuts, which will hurt the most vulnerable in our society, including children. The policies of Mr Cameron and his Chancellor, George Osborne, smack of medieval times in the levels of hardship they inflict, and the screw is set to tighten even more.
Instead of bluster and effrontery, and throwing out challenges to SNP ministers at Holyrood, Mr Mundell should concentrate on standing up for Scotland, not bowing to the wishes of his Tory boss. Mr Mundell must acknowledge and respect the fact that only a few weeks ago Scottish voters overwhelmingly elected 56 out of the 59 Scottish MPs from the party which has been in power in Scotland for the past eight years, and that the last time the Tories held the majority of Scottish seats was more than half a century ago. Since then, Scotland has moved on. Unfortunately, the Tories have not.
Ruth Marr,
99 Grampian Road, Stirling.
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