FMQs: John Swinney and Russell Findlay clash over income tax plans

John Swinney and Russell Findlay have clashed over income tax at first minister’s questions following the Scottish Government’s budget.

The Scottish Conservative leader accused the SNP of having “dragged more Scots into paying higher income tax” while public services get worse.

But the first minister accused the Tories of “economic incompetence” over the tax and spend plans it had tabled.

Finance secretary Shona Robison delivered the budget statement on Wednesday, confirming income tax rates and bands would not change next year.

The thresholds for the basic and intermediate rates will be raised from 1 April, meaning people on lower incomes will pay slightly less tax.

Scotland’s income tax system sees higher earners pay more than their counterparts south of the border, a decision taken in previous years.

Findlay said it meant taxpayers in Scotland will pay a combined £1.7bn more than if they lived elsewhere in the UK, while savings for lower earners would be “at most £1 a month”.

His party has called for a reset and simplification of tax, with a long-term aim to create parity between Scottish and UK rates and bands.

He said: “Instead of reducing tax, of course, the SNP have dragged more Scots into paying higher income tax. Every worker earning over £30,000 will be forced to pay more than those in the rest of the UK. How can the SNP boast of always taking more for public services that only ever get worse?”

The first minister argued that more than half of taxpayers in Scotland would be better off than they would be if they lived elsewhere in the UK as a consequence of decisions taken.

He went on the criticise Tory tax plans, saying there was a “£950m gaping hole at the very heart of the Conservative taxation proposals”. He added: “That reeks of economic incompetence. And that economic incompetence is a consistent approach from the Scottish Conservatives.”

He went on to say his government was “absolutely determined to improve the outputs of public services”.

Later in the FMQs session, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused the government of “squandering the opportunity” presented by the extra cash from the UK Government’s budget.

He said the “height of ambition” for the government in NHS waiting times was for patients to wait a year for an appointment, and ministers were too focused “on the inputs and not the outcomes”.

He added: “Despite proportionately higher spending and more staff, Scotland’s NHS is lagging behind England. Only almost every measure, performance is worse.”

John Swinney pointed to the record £21bn funding that had been announced for the NHS and urged Labour to therefore back his government’s budget.

He also criticised Sarwar’s approach to FMQs, saying: “It’s not good enough for Mr Sarwar – who can’t even step up to be a decent leader of the opposition party – to aspire to do anything else”.