Scottish Independence
November 26, 2013 by staff
Scottish Independence, Taxes in Scotland could rise by £1,000 per person per year if it leaves the UK, a British government minister says.
Danny Alexander said Treasury analysis suggested millions of taxpayers would pay more if Scotland voted for independence in next year’s referendum.
His comments come as the Scottish government prepares to publish a long-awaited white paper on independence.
SNP First Minister Alex Salmond has said the document will make the “economic case” for independence.
The referendum on Scotland’s constitutional future will take place on September 18, 2014.
On Tuesday, Mr Salmond will set out the most detailed prospectus to date on what an independent Scotland would look like, saying his priorities would be creating jobs, delivering growth and guaranteeing security.
He will say “a better Scotland can only be achieved by putting the decisions about Scotland’s future in the hands of the people of Scotland” and if Scotland votes yes, it would become independent on March 24 2016.
‘Stark reminder’
A recent report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) claimed an independent Scotland would need to raise taxes, cut spending, or both, to create a sustainable economy over the next 50 years.
The think tank said Scotland would face a “tougher” challenge than the UK as a whole in the long-term although the scale of it would depend on factors such as how much debt it inherited from the UK, the interest paid on the debt, the age of the population and potential changes in oil revenues and immigration rates.
Alex Salmond has said an independent Scotland’s priority would be job creation
However, it said said bringing national debt down would require something like a 6% reduction in total public spending, a rise of 9% on the basic rate of income tax, or a VAT rate of 28%.
In a calculated intervention ahead of the white paper’s publication, Mr Alexander said the report was a “very stark reminder” of why Scotland should not go it alone and was better off inside the UK.
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