A radical plan north of the border

Will the Scottish nationalists be able to bring in their radical fiscal measures north of the border?

Alex Salmond's package introduced to the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday has created headlines north and south of the border.The biggest being over the plans to scrap council tax and introduce a local income tax instead which will put around 3p on the basic rate.

It will need support from the minority parties if to become legal and the Scotsman is reporting this morning that Nick Clegg has come out in support for the scheme,although would prefer individual authorities to set the rate rather than a blanket nationwide rate.

The measures have already come in for a fair amount of criticism from across the political spectrum not least that it will hit the very voters that put Salmond in power,the Middle classes.Research from the nationalists suggests that only those earning over £70,000 will be worse off under the proposals.This though has been disputed by other surveys which suggest a far lower figure.

The main opposition is that it will create a fiscal black hole leaving Scotland around £400m worse off,money that will have to come from Westminster to maintain spending at current levels.Then the arguments that it will benefit the wealthy that live off investments untaxed.

If it does come in,probably in 2011,it will create a two tier tax system in the Uk.Tax systems the critics argue will discourage investment north of the border as well as setting up a complex tax system.For example what happens where Scots work in England?

Nevertheless,it is an interesting and radical proposal and events north of the border will be worth watching.

A question of West Lothian

The West Lothian question will no doubt dominate the airwaves today as former Tory Chancellor Kenneth Clarke produces his solution to the question of Scottish MP's voting on matters that are purely English in nature.

Clarke appeared on the Today programme earlier trailuing his much previewed solution which involves a complicated structure of who can vote at which stage of the bill.

According to Clarke, who recognised that the Tories held up devolution for two long,the measures are needed before we have a crisis built up over English resentment.

Of course the main stumbling block in all this is the fact that we have a Scottish Prime Minister representing a Scottish constituency whose pet projects are the very issues where Scotland has a degree of autonomy.

The Conservatives no doubt sense the inequality more than Labour and these proposals will be seen as an attempt to redress what the Tories see as an imbalance of regional voting patterns.

It should though be remembered that even without Scottish MP's the Labour party has a majority of MP's in England alone.

Brown warned over Scotland

A warning to Gordon Brown on the front page of the Scotsman today.

According to the paper

SCOTTISH Labour MPs have given a stark warning that the country will become independent within a few years unless the party wakes up to the threat of a Conservative government at Westminster

. adding that

a General Election win for David Cameron could drive voters into the SNP's hands as the Nationalists would be seen as the "lesser of two evils

".

A story too far

I wander whether the Times this morning is just stirring the embers of the Scottish debate.

Its lead story concerns a report that Gordon Brown has come under pressure fromcertain MP's to axe the so called Scottish mafia in his government.

Brown is being urged to give key jobs to ministers who can reach out to middle-class voters in England’s marginal seats.

says its political editor Jonathan Oliver.

He quotes the MP for Chorley Lindsay Hoyle, who reportedly says

Voters are looking to see a better balance within the cabinet to ensure that all the regions of England are represented.”

Surely this is a non story.If the party really and truly believes that this is the main issue,then it's time to go

What was she thinking of?

I can agree with Alan Cochrane's comments over at Three Line Whip that

It is difficult to imagine that Wendy Alexander can last as leader of the Scottish Labour Party after Gordon Brown's devastating denial at Prime Minister's Question Time of her plan for an immediate referendum on the break up of the United Kingdom.

What was she thinking off? It has been known that her views have always been pro referendum but to air them publically over a weekend when the Prime Minister was already being atttacked from all sides may well a step too far.

Over at Comment is Free,Ewan Crawford describes Labour's announcement as the biggest miscalculation in history

the calculation is that the SNP would lose a popular vote on the constitution, putting to bed any debate over independence for a generation and skewering Alex Salmond into the bargain. It's also precisely the opposite of what Alexander has been arguing ever since she assumed the leadership.

Moreover where does it leave her Brother Douglas.A while ago after the debacle of the Autumn election he was being tipped as the first fall guy in Brown's cabinet.Perhaps now his time will come?