Dumfriesshire MSP Oliver Mundell has hit out at the SNP’s budget saying it is set to rob taxpayers in his constituency to pay for a decade of failure by the Scottish Government.
The Budget, which was passed at Holyrood on Thursday 23 February by an SNP-Green alliance has raised taxes on a number of fronts, including for those on middle incomes, for businesses with rate hikes and for higher band council tax bill payers.
Mr Mundell says that Dumfriesshire is paying a high price for a decade of SNP rule and described Finance Secretary Derek Mackay as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Speaking in the Budget debate, Mr Mundell attacked the SNP saying: “The finance secretary is masquerading as a kind of modern Robin Hood.
“The only problem is that Derek Mackay is not taking from the rich to help the poorest. No, he is more like the sheriff of Nottingham, putting forward a budget that is robbing all of us to pay for 10 years of SNP failure.
“The finance secretary’s new-found powers seem to have gone to his head, and he is parading the naked truth about the SNP’s economic policy in front of the people of Scotland. The truth is that, if the SNP has an economic plan, it must be invisible.”
Mr Mundell went on to slam the Budget for making the choice of economic self destruction which he believes sends out a message that Scotland isn’t open for businesses, which will harm the economy of Dumfriesshire.
He said: “We now know once and for all that this is a socially heartless and economically soulless Government that has chosen—believe me, the austerity of economic self-destruction is a choice—to push thousands of businesses to the wall, to demand that those on middle incomes pay more council tax and to send out an unequivocal message to the financially mobile and those who want to invest in Scotland that we are no longer open for business.
“All that hurts our economy and means that there will be less money to redistribute in future years. That hurts our schools, our NHS and the most vulnerable in our society, and it is just not good enough.”
Concluding his criticism of the SNP’s Budget, he said: “Perhaps it is because I represent a constituency on the border, where the choice that people have to make about where to live, work and do business is most immediate, but I believe more strongly than ever that we are starting to pay a very high price for SNP rule.”
Speaking afterwards he added: “This Budget is very bad news for those living and working in Dumfriesshire and sends out the completely wrong message to those who wish to invest here.
“The message from the SNP has been laid bare; Scotland is the highest taxed part of the United Kingdom and we aren’t open for business.
“Instead of encouraging investment and giving measures to help taxpayers and businesses in Dumfriesshire, the Finance Secretary is determined to take more and more money out of people’s pockets and stagnate economic growth.”
