SNP attacks Labour ‘plan’ for income tax

A ROW in the Scottish Labour Party over proposals to hand Holyrood control of all income tax raised north of the Border could actually mean Scots are denied control of any extra economic levers if they vote against independence, the SNP said yesterday.

Scotland on Sunday revealed that some Scottish Labour MPs are threatening to boycott the party conference in Inverness next weekend and others are furious because they have not been consulted on the proposal which one MP described as “barking”.

It was claimed that even the shadow Treasury team has not been consulted, while MPs feared that Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont is committed to the proposal.

A Scottish Labour spokesman yesterday insisted that the idea is still only “a consultation” and nothing has yet been decided.

But SNP MSP Annabelle Ewing – who sits on the referendum bill committee – said: “Ultimately, if Scots did vote No in the referendum, we would be relying on MPs such as these to devolve powers to Scotland – which they evidently have no intention of doing. This is typical Westminster control-freakery.

“This just underlines once again why only a Yes vote in next year’s independence referendum can secure Scotland the economic levers we need to build a fairer and more prosperous Scotland.”

Meanwhile, former Labour Cabinet minister John Reid added to criticisms of Ed Milliband’s leadership yesterday, saying he had to do more than “just criticising the status quo” to win the next election.