CONFUSION OVER CALMAN AS UK GOVERNMENT TRIES TO WALK AWAY

MINISTRY PLAYS DUMB OVER COST INFORMATION

A Freedom of Information request to the UK Ministry of Justice has thrown up confusion over responsibility for the under fire Calman Commission after the UK Government claimed to have no information on its cost.

The answer comes despite minutes of the Commission from 2008 stating the Ministry of Justice was contributing £500,000 and the Scotland Office confirming that contribution in a parliamentary answer in July 2009.

The FoI request asked the Ministry of Justice – the department with responsibility for constitutional affairs “what the costs have been of the Calman Commission”. The Ministry has replied saying “the information you have requested is not held by the MoJ”.

However in minutes of the Commission’s Engagement group from May 2008 it states; “The Secretariat advised that a budget of around £500K had been allocated for the work of the Commission by the Ministry of Justice.”

The Commission’s report has come under pressure this week as more economists challenged the tax proposals and claimed they could be damaging to Scotland’s economy.

At £614,000 in total the cost of the exclusive Calman Commission tops that of the National Conversation which is considering all constitutional options and is currently holding open meetings with the public across Scotland.

Commenting on the response from the Ministry of Justice SNP MSP Linda Fabiani said:

“It now seems no one wants to take responsibility for the Calman Commission.

“For the UK Government to claim in a Freedom of Information response that it doesn’t have information when it clearly does is despicable.

“The UK Government is trying to walk away as fast as possible in the hope people will forget Calman ever existed. There is clearly no desire in London to transfer powers to Scotland - if there is, what are we waiting for.

“The UK Government refuses to accept that it paid for this report and is now refusing to transfer the recommended powers that everyone agrees on such as gun control, drink driving and road safety.

“Meanwhile Calman’s recommendation on taxation faces continued criticism from leading economists and has been exposed as damaging to Scotland’s economic prosperity – regardless of whether taxes go up or down.

"With Unionist parties lining up to kick Calman into the long grass it is only the the open and inclusive National Conversation that is listening to the views of all of Scotland on constitutional change.”

SNP MP and Constitutional Affairs Spokesman Pete Wishart said;

"I will be investigating with the Ministry of Justice why they failed to provide clear information to a simple request.

"For them to deny information about the cost of Calman, when the minutes of the Commission record a £500,000 contribution is a disgrace

"At £614,000 the UK Government's failure to implement the Calman recommendations makes this an incredibly expensive white elephant."

Plaid MP: ‘Holtham confirms that Barnett formula drastically needs to change’

Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price MP has responded to today’s findings in f the Holtham Commission’s interim report.

Plaid Cymru has long campaigned for the discriminatory Barnett formula to be reviewed - arguments that are confirmed in the report’s findings. The investigations in the report also show that under the present system, Wales would lose out on over £8billion in the ten years from 2010.

Plaid’s Adam Price MP commented:

“The findings in the Holtham report do not come as a surprise. Plaid has campaigned consistently for the Barnett formula to be changed but has lacked support from other parties.

“We can now look forward to seeing the recommendations to in the final report. I would expect for this report to be treated in the same way as the Calman commission for the Scottish system did, and for the Government to accept them in full.

“The findings of these investigations by prestigious economists now confirm without a doubt the truth behind the fundamental injustice of the Barnett Formula.

“It is no longer a sustainable argument that resources in Wales can be controlled in this way. We are losing out

“The problem has been diagnosed and now we must focus on the solutions.

“These findings should form the basis of that final report and I would expect the UK Government to respond by bringing forward legislation to that effect. The Holtham Commission deserves that courtesy and Wales deserves that such respect be shown to it.”

GERS SURPLUS SHOWS INDEPENDENT SCOTLAND WOULD PROSPER

£2.3 BILLION BUDGET BONUS FOR SCOTLAND

SCOTLAND’S RESOURCES PROPPING UP GORDON BROWN’S OVERDRAFT

SNP MP and Treasury Spokesman Stewart Hosie has welcomed the publication of Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland 2007/08 which in highlighting Scotland’s £2.3 billion three year surplus confirms Scotland’s ability to prosper as an independent country and adds to the
case for full fiscal autonomy.

The three year surplus, in contrast to UK Government deficit over the same period puts pay to the claims of the Calman Commission on fiscal autonomy and to the Scotland Office’s contrived efforts to fiddle the figures.

Commenting on the publication of Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland report 2007-08 which confirms Scotland’s economic potential Treasury Spokesman Stewart Hosie MP said;

“With this three year surplus of £2.3 billion even GERS is showing Scotland would be in a far healthier financial position than the UK as a whole.

“It is clear that the flow of resources is from Scotland to the rest of the UK, not the other way round and with oil revenues projected to reach £13 billion in 2008/09 Labour’s ridiculous attempts to talk down Scotland’s economy and fiddle the figures have been exposed.

“Even before this recession Scotland’s revenues have been propping up Gordon Brown’s overdraft instead of being invested in our economic future.

“In fact these latest figures are only the most recent to show Scotland in a consistently stronger financial position than the UK as a whole with far more sustainable revenue and expenditure.

“The SNP have long known that Scotland could flourish as an independent country, now GERS shows that Scotland would be a prosperous nation with a budget surplus.

“Today’s GERS figures, added to those of the last two years finally put to rest the daft arguments spouted by the London based parties for years. The naysayers and doom-mongers of Scotland’s economic future will need to rethink their position.”

“With Independence and full fiscal autonomy Scotland will be well placed to thrive, as we invest our resources in Scotland’s future.”

ECONOMISTS EXPOSE CALMAN FLAWS

MEMBER OF CALMAN EXPERT GROUP CONDEMNS FINANCE PROPOSALS

SNP MSP Dr Alasdair Allan today highlighted criticisms by a group of economists, including a member of the Calman Commission’s Independent Expert Group, of the Commission's taxation proposals for failing to consider full fiscal autonomy and for recommending a system that will “do little to enhance accountability” and offers few advantages but “several disadvantages.”

Writing in the Scotsman a series of Scottish economists, including Andrew Hughes Hallett, a member of the Calman Commission’s Independent Expert Group, and two Professors from Glasgow University, where Sir Kenneth Calman is Chancellor, have condemned the Commission’s failure to consider fiscal autonomy as a “fundamental mistake” and state that “Only under fiscal autonomy can the accountability of the Scottish Parliament properly be entrenched.”

They described the Calman Commission’s proposals as “at best an opportunity missed and at worst a recipe for economic instability in the future.”

Dr Allan said;

“The SNP believe that Scotland needs full fiscal autonomy – including our 90 per cent share of North Sea revenues – and the Calman Commission, as these leading economists show, is totally wrong to reject financial responsibility for Scotland.

“It is the “fundamental mistake” at the heart of the financial proposals from Calman that they failed to address the issue of fiscal autonomy and ignored Scotland’s valuable oil and gas resources.

"The Calman Commission’s own expert group said that Scotland was entitled to a 90 per cent share of UK oil revenues and that there would be a benefit in having a Scottish oil fund, similar to the Norwegian fund now worth more than £200 billion. That 90 per cent share is worth around £30 billion over the next five years, at a time when the UK Government is planning to cut £500 million a year from Scotland’s budget.

“Even the proposals that have been brought forward appear ill thought through and lacking in detail.

“The SNP have a clearly defined policy – independence and equality for Scotland – and we are very confident that it will prevail in a referendum when the people have the opportunity to choose. That is the best and simplest solution for Scotland. Anything less risks being a messy fudge.”

NEWLY PUBLISHED YOUGOV POLL PUTS HOLYROOD INDEPENDENCE MAJORITY “IN TOUCHING DISTANCE”

SNP DOUBLES ITS LEAD OVER LABOUR

The newly published Holyrood voting intentions from the Sunday Times’ YouGov poll published at the weekend show that the SNP has doubled its poll lead over Labour in the Scottish Parliament constituency vote since the previous YouGov poll in April – and puts the parties and MSPs who support Scottish independence within touching distance of an absolute majority in the Scottish Parliament: just five seats short. The poll figures are now published on the YouGov website.

The poll puts the SNP on 39% of the constituency vote to 26% for Labour – a 13 point lead, up from 7 points in April. The Weber Shandwick seats projector analysis shows that at least 60 MSPs who support independence would be elected on this poll: comprising 52 SNP MSPs, 7 Greens, and the likelihood that Margo MacDonald would be one of the two ‘Other’ MSPs elected.

The poll projection shows the SNP winning 52 seats (up five) to Labour’s 36 (down 10). The SNP would win 49 of the 73 constituency seats (up 28), and three list seats. The Tories would fall one seat from 2007 to 16, and the Liberals would also win 16 seats (no change).

Commenting on the poll, SNP MSP for Stirling and Minister for Parliamentary Business Mr Bruce Crawford said:

"Having won the European election in Scotland and moved ahead of Labour in Westminster voting intentions, this sensational new poll shows a huge SNP lead for the Scottish Parliament.

“It demonstrates that the people of Scotland trust the SNP’s record in Government – including our action to support economic recovery, as well as freezing the Council Tax, slashing business rates, phasing in free prescriptions, scrapping bridge tolls, and delivering 1,000 additional police officers.

“On the day after the Calman Commission published its report, the significance of these figures is that it would put the pro-independence parties and MSPs within touching distance of achieving an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament – including 52 SNP MSPs and seven Greens.

“The Calman parties – Labour, Tory and Lib Dem – are behind the times, as well as being behind the SNP in elections and polls. The opportunities that we have and challenges we face as a nation require full financial powers, so that we can take the big economic decisions Scotland needs to succeed.

“That is the positive case the SNP wish to take to the people in the referendum we propose for 2010 – so that people have the opportunity to choose independence and equality for Scotland.”