Yousaf’s ‘catastrophic’ tax plan will force doctors to leave Scotland, MP claims
Fiona Bruce shatters Humza Yousaf’s independence dream
Humza Yousaf’s decision to hit Scotland’s middle class with a new tax hike will have a “catastrophic” effect and see businesses, banks, innovators, as well as doctors, dentists and academics flee to England, an MP warned.
Former SNP MP Lisa Cameron, who switched to the Conservative Party after severe bullying against her by the SNP, has told Express.co.uk that Mr Yousaf’s shock proposal will cause a crisis for the NHS.
Dr Cameron, herself a former mental health professional in the NHS as a psychologist, said that the raid on middle-class wages will leave Scotland short of key staff who will move to lower-taxed parts of the UK.
Mr Yousaf’s SNP and his Scottish Green allies have been left short of money after lavishing millions on their independence projects.
Now he wants to create a 44p rate for people earning between £75,000 and £125,000.
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Dr Cameron warned that the proposals would have “a catastrophic” impact on Scotland.
She told Express.co.uk: “These plans are likely to drive banking and innovative tech sectors from Scotland.
“They will also lead to a shortage of doctors and dentists.”
She warned that there could be a genuine NHS crisis in Scotland unless Mr Yousaf rethinks.
Dr Cameron’s criticisms echoed those of Kate Forbes, the former SNP Finance Secretary who narrowly lost to Mr Yousaf in the party’s leadership election.
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Ms Forbes told STV: “We already have significantly increased rates and bands here in Scotland, and therefore I think we have to be very careful about not ultimately reducing public revenue with what we do with our rates and bands.”
Asked if such behavioural change could include people moving out of Scotland, Ms Forbes replied: “Or it could be that they don’t come in the first place.”
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has told Express.co.uk that he agrees with Forbes’s assessment of the impact on Scotland of “yet another disastrous SNP policy”.
He said: “The new tax band won’t take in that much and will deter people from coming to Scotland.”
Added to that the respected Scottish thinktank Fraser of Allander Institue (FAI) has warned that the SNP Scottish Government is now facing a £1.5 billion black hole in its finances after 16 years of mismanagement.
It also concluded the new tax band could actually lose the Scottish Government £43 million in lost revenue.
Professor Mairi Spowage, director of the FAI, said “all evidence” points to behavioural responses to tax rises.
She added: “They can be large, particularly at the upper end of income distribution, but they are also uncertain.
“It can be about people choosing to work a little less, maybe drop a day or go part-time; maybe not work extra hours, which can be a common response to increases in your marginal rate, when you think about what happens if you earn an extra £1 rather than how much you think about what you pay overall.’
Professor Spowage said: “It could be about either paper migration or actual people moving out of Scotland, although often migratory effects when we talk about them in tax behaviour are not really about people leaving, it’s more about is there one person in 100 who would have moved to Scotland who wouldn’t otherwise move to Scotland? It’s more about the net effect of that over a period of time.”
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