Grant cut claim is misleading

THE First Minister’s claim that the UK government plans to cut Scotland’s block grant by £4 billion is pure scaremongering (News, 5 January).

In fact, the recommendation to replace Barnett with the needs assessment model developed in 2010 by the Independent Commission on Funding and Finance for Wales came from an all-party group on taxation with no official status, not the Treasury.

Further, this model was 
submitted for consideration by the Treasury in 2010, but no action was taken. The model has serious flaws and is not fit for purpose.

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There are always calls to review Barnett, but no convincing alternative has been produced by critics.

The First Minister’s willingness to mislead the public 
for partisan advantage is a 
disgrace when he is asking us to trust him with our future.

Professor Arthur Midwinter, Falkirk