Is the SNP on a mission to make itself even more unpopular? Wellbeing economy minister Màiri McAllan is the latest politician to face a backlash after she confused voters with claims about Scotland’s progressive tax system on Twitter.
McAllan first insisted that when making comparisons between Scotland and Ireland’s economic growth, the fact that Ireland was ‘(a) independent and (b) in the EU single market’ were ‘key recipes for growth’ and ‘critical to Scotland’s future prosperity’. Quelle surprise.
But then McAllan tweeted that:
In the meantime, our progressive tax regime sees most people in Scotland pay less tax than rUK while asking those who can to pay a bit more – a social contract helping insulate our people & public services from relentless UK austerity & providing services we all benefit from.
McAllan’s claim led to plenty of confusion, with a number of contextualising ‘community notes’ appearing alongside her post. For all the SNP’s bluster, the reality is that taxpayers north of the border earning over £28,000 a year will pay more tax than those in the rest of the UK. McAllan’s statement that the Scottish government is ‘asking’ taxpayers to fork out more seems rather misleading; after all, they’ve no choice in the matter! And while those under the £28,000 threshold are not taxed as much as their counterparts in England, the figures for what they save are rather underwhelming. For earners on £25,000 a year, the difference works out at about, er, 44p a week. How radical…
The SNP’s progressive tax system isn’t quite as forward-thinking as it has been presented. Indeed, even the party’s own supporters aren’t impressed by the policy: polling by Panelbase found in December that three quarters of SNP voters oppose Humza Yousaf’s ‘progressive’ tax system — and want to pay the same or less than the rest of the UK. Mr S isn’t much surprised: as Scotland’s public services continue to worsen, taxpayers aren’t getting much bang for their buck. Not like the Nats to overpromise and underdeliver…
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