'Tears' will follow Scottish tax devolution plans, warns Darling
Handing over Scottish income tax powers while removing voting rights will create a split that adds great risk to improving the economy, warns Alistair Darling
DEVOLVED income tax powers for Scotland will lead to “floods of tears”, former chancellor Alistair Darling has warned.
Darling said that prime minster David Cameron had linked the handing over of the power to Scotland with the removal of tax and spend voting rights for English laws, in an article for the FT.
Devolving income tax could see Scots paying no taxes directly from their income for “quintessential” UK services, including defence and social protection.
Such a move would also damage the UK, with it ceding a large part of its revenue base and ability to manage the economy, and the principle of sharing risks would be undermined.
“Lenders realising that the UK might not be able to raise income tax to the required extent would charge more to lend, hitting everyone throughout the UK,” Darling stated.