BUSINESS at Holyrood on Wednesday included a government debate on economic recovery post-Covid. Cabinet Secretary for the Economy Kate Forbes led the debate and laid out the SNP government’s economic plan.
Covid has been so cruel to so many aspects of our lives. There are things we used to take for granted that we will never take for granted again. Many households have been plunged into poverty and insecurity as unemployment rises exponentially. And only this week the ban on evictions has ended in England; thankfully in Scotland it was extended till September 30.
But during this debate in the Holyrood Chamber we heard from the Conservative opposition in Scotland through MSP Liz Smith. In moving a Conservative amendment to the SNP government’s motion on the economy she did not disappoint and included the usual Conservative reference to indyref2, but it was Ms Smith’s reference to current talks between the Scottish Greens and the SNP that should have raised eyebrows.
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Ms Smith lambasted the manifesto commitments by both the Greens and the SNP on a future Universal Basic Income (UBI). Ms Smith highlighted the cost this would be to the Scottish economy and claimed tax increases would follow. Was this Ms Smith taking a leaf from her UK Government’s tax policies – tax policies which protect the better off, unlike the progressive tax policies of the Scottish Government?
Covid has indeed impacted on daily life and we have seen a doubling of applications for Universal Credit, a figure that is both tragic and harrowing. But it begs the question, had a UBI been in place, would the massive increase in applications for Universal Credit been necessary? Sadly for Scotland, Holyrood does not have the devolved welfare powers to introduce a UBI, but it does have Conservatives who are intent on protecting higher earners from pay fair taxes.
Catriona C Clark
Falkirk
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