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Conservatives warn against tax rises

Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson
Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson

The Scottish Conservatives have warned that any move to raise income tax rates above those in the UK would leave Scotland at a “competitive disadvantage”.

The party fear that any move to use radical new powers to increase taxes above those in the rest of the country would cause “obvious” problems for the Scottish economy.

Scotland’s third largest party made the claim as they pledged to offer a “low tax, high wage” economy at the Holyrood elections in May.

The party have appointed an “expert” commission to provide advice on their tax policy.

A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “The Scottish Conservatives have appointed a tax commission to look at the full basket of taxes Holyrood will have control over.

“These are the experts, and it is their views that will inform our policy not just on income tax, but on other areas of taxation too.

“That is further than any other party is going in Scotland, and we believe it will provide us with the best set of proposals to inform our manifesto.”

But the party cautioned that any move to get people in Scotland to pay more tax than their counterparts in England – as Scottish Labour have committed to do – could leave the country at a disadvantage.

The spokesman added: “The Scottish Conservatives have made it clear on a number of occasions that we want to see a low tax, high wage economy.

“We believe the tax burden on hardworking people is already high enough, and should not be increased.

“We also think Scotland should not have a higher income tax rate than elsewhere in the UK, because it would place us at an obvious competitive disadvantage.”