The Glenrothes effect kicks in – Brown now open to more tax powers for Holyrood
published this on 12:46 pm, Friday, 5th September, 2008News | Comments (rss) | Respond | Ping |
What a difference a by-election makes., particularly when it’s close to home. Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, speaking at last night’s Confederation of British Industry (CBI) dinner in Glasgow said that there was no ‘unthinking opposition to change’.
He said that ‘The Scottish Parliament is wholly accountable for the budget it spends, but not for the size of its budget. And that budget is not linked to the success of the Scottish economy and that’s why we’ve asked Calman (Ed: the Calman Commission set up by Westminster to examine devolution arrangements) to look carefully at the financial accountability of the parliament’.
Scotland’s Finance Secretary John Swinney, speaking to the BBC, noted that twelve months ago Gordon Brown was implacably opposed to any change in the powers devolved to Holyrood. He ‘welcomed where the prime minister had arrived at in his speech. He is now accepting that Holyrood needs more financial power and that is a very welcome step forward’.
First Minister Alex Salmond was quick to underline the political reality: ‘With the Glenrothes by-election around the corner, Gordon Brown is caving into pressure from the SNP and the people of Scotland.’
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