Independent Scotland 'may need tax increases to pay for welfare'

www.telegraph.co.uk...

Taxes in an independent Scotland may have to increase to fund the burgeoning cost of benefits, a report by a senior economist has warned. Professor David Bell said economic growth would have to keep pace with the spiralling cost of welfare north of the Border if taxes were not to increase. The Stirling University academic said politicians arguing for control of welfare to be devolved to Holyrood or total independence have yet to provide a “a clear, costed vision” of how this could be achieved.

His analysis is a blow for SNP ministers who have put Westminster’s controversial welfare reforms at the forefront of their campaign for independence in the hope of attracting poorer Scots. However, Treasury figures published yesterday showed the cost of the welfare state in Scotland has reached £4,063 per head, almost £400 more than in England.

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reply to post by tdk84


Man that wall of text is tough to read......Can you break some of it up? What are your thoughts? You should always offer an opinion and or synopsis of the story in your OP....

Sorry for the critique, but it is really tough to read walls of text like that

However, Treasury figures published yesterday showed the cost of the welfare state in Scotland has reached £4,063 per head, almost £400 more than in England.

The report by Prof Bell, who acts as an official adviser to Holyrood’s finance committee, said the number of pensioners in Scotland was expected to increase by 80 per cent between 2010 and 2060.

Wow looks like they are in some trouble! Join the USA in the fun, so are we.....

Originally posted by Chrisfishenstein
reply to post by tdk84

 

Man that wall of text is tough to read......Can you break some of it up? What are your thoughts? You should always offer an opinion and or synopsis of the story in your OP....

Sorry for the critique, but it is really tough to read walls of text like that

However, Treasury figures published yesterday showed the cost of the welfare state in Scotland has reached £4,063 per head, almost £400 more than in England.

The report by Prof Bell, who acts as an official adviser to Holyrood’s finance committee, said the number of pensioners in Scotland was expected to increase by 80 per cent between 2010 and 2060.

Wow looks like they are in some trouble! Join the USA in the fun, so are we.....

edit on 2/19/2013 by Chrisfishenstein because: (no reason given)

Sorry i'm at work, was in a rush. Its the reason I linked the article first so you can read it nicely. Will comment later.

I don't see a problem here, why should they raise taxes? Can't they just print more money?

I think a lot of people who are pro independence are under the illusion oil will save them.

There just is no sustainability. I think the latest figures show 35%, for a YES at moment so i doubt it will happen.

to quote someone else on the matter.

OK - please explain how an independent Scotland will be able to pay off its share of the UK debt, support the public sector and its pension liability, maintain the level of benefits and grow the economy and maintain the current standard of living. And all this whilst trying to negotiate entry to EU and setting up all of the nations necessary infrastructure that is currently part of the UK. I don't think it is possible - otherwise I would expect the SNP would have brought this to our attention. I am deeply concerned about the lack of evidence in support of the YES vote from an economic perspective - in fact I'd go as far as saying 'every known fact on Independence points to a YES vote ' is a sound bite, with little empirical evidence to support it.