Devolution

The race for Holyrood concludes this week when, on 5th May, voters decide the make-up of the next Scottish Parliament. While politicians compete with new spending pledges, we know that the next five years will be a reality check for devolution. Budgets are falling and the proposals on offer so far – bolder efficiency savings and a public sector pay freeze – won't plug the gap. Nor would the Green Party proposal to use the so-called tartan tax, levying an extra 0.5p on basic rate income tax, get us there. So manifesto commitments offer only a sketchy guide to what will actually happen.

Those of you in Scotland may have raised an eyebrow this week if you had read the media reports claiming Scotland was the most affluent country in Britain. Really? The recession is biting hard, factories have closed and gloomy projections are made on public spending cuts in the years ahead. Austerity not affluence is grabbing the headlines. So what is this about?