Carmichael calls IFS findings on SNP pledges a ‘bombshell’
Alistair Carmichael has called findings from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) on the SNP manifesto this week a “bombshell”.
SNP pledges could mean more austerity in an independent Scotland, according to the IFS.
It also said that the party’s policies were not costed, as some parties have done.
The Liberal Democrat candidate for Orkney and Shetland said the IFS findings “strike at the heart of nationalist claims to be able to avoid tax rises and spending cuts in an independent Scotland”.
He added: “It seems that austerity for Scotland is perfectly fine if it is SNP-led austerity. The suggestion that SNP policy would also lead to increasing inequality only compounds the potential harm. The SNP like to say they offer an “escape” for Scotland. This looks more like escaping the frying pan to fall into the fire.”
“The SNP cannot even seem to tell us what their proposals would cost. The devil is always in the detail and it is concerning that Nicola Sturgeon wants to hide away the actual figures behind her policies. Perhaps it is because the sums just don’t add up.
“The inability to work out the price of their policies is a little ironic given the continuing drop in maths education under this SNP Government. It is increasingly clear that only the Liberal Democrats have a credible plan to fight inequality and build a brighter future for our country.”
Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Murdo Fraser called the findings a “humiliation” for the SNP leader.
SNP economy spokeswoman and deputy Westminster leader Kirsty Blackman has defended her party’s plans.
She said the SNP’s manifesto was “an ambitious and wide-ranging plan to end austerity, invest in our NHS and increase household incomes”.
Charles L. Gallagher
Conveniently both Messrs Carmichael & Fraser fail to mention that the general economic problems have come about thanks to the economic policies of ten years of economic policies foisted on us by first Lib/Dem, Tory coalition the by uncontrolled Tory austerity. All through this the Scottish Govt. has tried to mitigate the harshest extremes of the bedroom tax, benefits reduction, etc.
What in fact we have seen that neither the Lib/Dems or Tories are fit to run an economy for the benefit of all, not just their few rich City friends!!!
Christine Laurenson
The IFS is a pretty right-wing organisation to be fair, so I would take any of its pronouncements with a generous pinch of salt. Also, an independent Scotland does not exist at the moment, and so its financial situation and potential cannot yet be ascertained with any degree of accuracy, which might explain the lack of detailed costings. Furthermore, the inability of the present government to balance the books for a very real, if rather sickly, U.K. economy, does seem a tad more worrying by comparison. Perhaps the Tories and their pals, the Lib-Dems, who must share the blame for enabling genocidal policies to be foisted upon the most vulnerable groups in what is becoming an increasingly hostile society, should look at their own performance over the last decade, rather than indulge in SNP/Independence whataboutery.
ian tinkler
“for enabling genocidal policies to be foisted upon the most vulnerable groups in what is becoming an increasingly hostile society”. The true voice of a Nationalist. This is the type of rhetoric we would expect from Vyacheslav Molotov or Joseph Goebbels! Christine Laurenson must be pretty desperate to use such language. How ironic considering the SNP objection to relatively benign comments used in Westminster!