By Keith Aitken in Edinburgh | 19 May 2014
Increased fiscal powers for Holyrood will be guaranteed by the Liberal Democrats in any coalition negotiations that follow the 2015 UK general election, provided Scots vote No to independence in September, according to Nick Clegg.
In a speech in Edinburgh today to the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, Clegg also said that LibDem fiscal devolution plans would raise the proportion of Scottish tax revenues controlled by a devolved Holyrood from 30% under the 2012 Scotland Act provisions to more than 50%.
‘Income tax paid on earnings by Scottish taxpayers should be the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament with the rates and bands determined here in Scotland,’ he said.
‘So should capital gains tax. And inheritance tax too. Why should these be the reserve of the UK Parliament only?
‘If people in Scotland want to further cut the income tax burden on middle-income earners, that should be a choice for them. If they want to raise it in order to take less from lower earners, again they should be free to do so.’
It follows a weekend BBC interview in which Clegg said that if Scots voted to reject independence at the referendum on September 18, his party would ‘act as guarantors’ of greater fiscal devolution in future UK coalition negotiations.
He said that increased devolution was ‘inevitable’ if Scotland remained within the UK and suggested that the LibDems could broker a consensus between other parties – including the Scottish National Party – after a referendum No vote.
‘There is an emerging and hardening consensus across all the mainstream parties,’ he claimed.
‘My party has always advocated home rule. We have set out an ambitious programme of further devolution.’
Both Labour and the LibDems have promised further devolution of tax powers if Scotland votes No to independence, and the Conservatives are expected to follow suit within the next month when a review under Lord Strathclyde reports. The 2012 Scotland Act powers will give Scotland control over stamp duty, landfill tax and the basic rate of income tax above 10p in the pound.
Clegg’s visit comes ahead of Thursday’s European elections, when the LibDems are expected to lose their sole Scottish seat in the European Parliament. The party has lost heavily in both Holyrood and Scottish local government elections since reaching the UK coalition deal with the Conservatives in 2010.
