UK budget delay leaves Scotland in limbo
Postponement of the UK budget leaves the Scottish Parliament no time to scrutinise it, and raises serious concerns over the ability of the Scottish Government to come up with its own, the Scottish Greens have warned.
UK Chancellor Sajid Javid told BBC today that his budget would not be going ahead as planned on 6 November, leaving no time for the devolved budget scrutiny procedures agreed by MSPs in the Budget Process Review Group.
Commenting, Scottish Green finance spokesperson Patrick Harvie said:
“Not for the first time, we see the UK Government completely disregarding the Scottish Parliament. Further delay leaves us no time to scrutinise their budget, and creates a potential crisis for the Scottish Government in coming up with tax and spending plans for Scotland.
“Scottish Greens have played a productive role in recent Scottish budgets, not least in establishing a new income tax system for Scotland, but that system is still impacted by the tax and spending plans at Westminster.
“We have already seen this Government lead MPs on a merry dance to try and sneak through a disastrous Brexit, now they are driving a coach and horses through the devolution arrangements.
“The Climate Emergency won’t wait for Brexit or anything else, which is why it is vital we have budgets at a UK and Scottish level with meaningful and radical proposals to urgently cut our emissions.”