Thanks to the UK Government, basic rate taxpayers in England, Northern Ireland and Wales will pay £1,205 less tax in 2019/20 than they did in 2010/11, when the Conservatives came to power. Scottish taxpayers however will miss out on further tax breaks available to people elsewhere in the UK after the SNP opted not to implement them.

Anyone earning more than £27,000 will pay more tax in Scotland than they would south of the border. The SNP’s budget is going up they have no excuse for slapping workers with the highest taxes in the UK.

Cllr Alastair Redman