TORIES ALLY WITH LABOUR TO SAVAGELY CUT SCOTTISH SPENDING

GOLDIE RENEGES ON PROMISE TO LIMIT CUTS IN SCOTLAND

"WHERE WILL TORY-LABOUR ALLIANCE MAKE THEIR CUTS?"

The Tories in Scotland have reneged on a promise to limit Scottish spending cuts to £28 million and are now backing Labour's plans for £500 million says SNP MSP Joe FitzPatrick – a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Finance Committee.

Yesterday Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie demanded that £500 million of cuts be identified in Scottish public spending - a figure supported by the Labour party.

This is in direct contradiction to their statement in January when they said that their plans had been drawn up in such a way that Scotland would only have to find £28 million of cuts because they would not affect health and education spending south of the border. (The Scottish budget is determined by spending in departments south of the border under the Barnett Formula.

Commenting Mr FitzPatrick said:

"Annabel Goldie's confirmation yesterday that she now wants to support Labour's plans for £500 million in spending cuts only confirms our previous concerns that the Tories would renege on their promise to limit cuts to £28 million.

"With Annabel Goldie now confirming she is supporting Labour's cuts she now has to follow her own advice and come clean. She has to explain why she has reneged on that promise not to cut spending by £500 million?

"And she and her Labour allies must also say where they will make their planned cuts. That the Tories plan £500 million cuts means that both they and Labour will cut spending to frontline services in health and education in Scotland.

"However they have not identified one area to cut despite calling for details from others. In fact both have been calling for more spending over this very weekend!

"If both were truly standing up for Scotland's public services they would be opposing these cuts like the SNP.

"They would both be agreeing with the SNP that the best way to save the tax payers cash is to dump the multi-billion Trident nuclear missile programme and the last vestiges of ID card, instead of cutting jobs and services.

“And with the latest GERS analysis showing Scotland in budget surplus – with a surplus of some £2.3 billion in the past three years - it beggars belief that two parties in the Scottish Parliament would be following their London bosses' cuts agenda.

"Rather than pay the price for the UK's mismanagement of our economy, the Westminster cuts make it absolutely clear why Scotland needs to gain responsibility for all of own tax and spending with independence.”

Liberal Democrats will cut people’s income tax bill by £700

The Liberal Democrats will fight the next general election with a pledge to cut income tax bills by £700 for people on low and middle incomes.

The party will promise to raise the income tax personal allowance to £10,000 by closing tax loopholes exploited by big businesses and the wealthy.

Measures which will be used to pay for this proposed increase in the personal allowance include:

• Restricting tax relief on pension contributions to the basic rate
• Taxing Capital Gains at marginal income tax rates, allowing for indexation and retirement relief
• Tackling Stamp Duty Land Tax avoidance and Corporation Tax avoidance
• Subjecting benefits in kind to National Insurance Contributions as well as income tax and applying National Insurance to multiple jobs
• Switching aviation taxes from per person to per plane and increasing taxation on non lifeline domestic flights.

Speaking at the launch, Nick Clegg said:

"These plans will give money back to the people who really need it at the time when they need it most.

"It is time to end the unfairness that sees big businesses and the wealthy treating taxes as something to be easily avoided, leaving everybody else to pay out.

"For too long governments have been letting companies stash their money in offshore tax havens while taxpayers are left to foot the bill.

"Over time a tax system has developed that creates loopholes for the wealthy and does nothing for those who really need help.

"People who say there isn't enough money to make our tax system fair are wrong. Our plans wouldn't add a penny to the overall tax burden, but they would spread that burden far more fairly.

"Far from making this reform difficult, tight Government finances and a harsh recession make it absolutely vital. It will help millions of low and middle income taxpayers who are most likely to spend money so helping the wider economy.

"The Liberal Democrats will create a fundamentally rebalanced system that is fair for all, putting hundreds of pounds back into the pockets of millions of British people, and taking four million out of paying tax altogether."