John Swinney calls for Scottish Parliament to be granted corporation tax powers

Published on Thursday 24 March 2011 13:04

Finance Secretary John Swinney has demanded that Scotland be given responsibility for corporation tax following moves to give Northern Ireland the same power.

Mr Swinney said Scotland is to be denied the control over corporation tax that the UK Government are consulting about giving to Northern Ireland, despite the Scottish Parliament's Scotland Bill Committee recommending this being extended to the Scottish Government if introduced in Northern Ireland.

Speaking a day after the Chancellor's UK Budget announcement, Mr Swinney said: "With record North Sea revenues of 13.4 billion this coming year, an increase of over 4 billion, and double last year's figure, it is abundantly clear that Scottish resources are bankrolling the Chancellor's Budget and the UK Treasury.

"Even before this huge surge in North Sea revenues, the official Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures showed that the flow of resources in the UK is from north to south, not south to north.

"Scotland has the resources, and we should also have the job-creating economic and financial powers to match so that we can boost competitiveness and drive forward recovery in Scotland.

"Yet while grabbing our oil revenues, the Con/Dem UK Government are proposing to withhold responsibility for corporation tax from Scotland,

even as they prepare to grant such powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

"We believe that Northern Ireland and Scotland should have this vital economic lever so that we can have lower corporation tax than Westminster. And what is more, Tory, Lib Dem and Labour MSPs at Holyrood are all in favour of extending the power to Scotland if it is introduced in Northern Ireland.

"With the powers we currently have, the SNP Government are delivering month-on-month of rising employment and falling unemployment - Scotland is the only nation in the UK where this is happening.

"We cannot allow the Tory-led UK Government to blow us off course, which is why we need to secure full economic and financial responsibilities for Scotland.

"To protect the progress we are making in Scotland, and win the real powers that Scotland needs to succeed, it is vital that the SNP Government are re-elected on 5 May."