Taxing Times

We have had Gordon Brown’s election budget and commentators do not seem to think much of it.

Despite passionate pleas the whisky strips are here. These are not a new football outfit for any of our teams but an “excise” strip to be stuck over the top of a whisky bottle when tax has been paid on its contents.

Dubious figures have driven “Broon” to this measure. That National Audit Office was only able to suggest that whisky tax fraud was in the range £10 million to £1,000 million – hardly a convincing case for something that will cost one of Scotland’s leading industries dear.

The changes mean whisky producers paying the tax sooner – they have to buy the strips from the government in advance – and upgrading their equipment to stick them on. A costly business.

In Banff and Buchan we have but one distillery and its product – Glen Deveron malt – is “export only” with the sole exception of Duff House where the gift shop supplies this fine dram. But in neighbouring Moray whisky is not just “uisge beatha” – the water of life – it is life itself. A vital industry.

Meantime back at the Scottish Parliament it is another tax issue that is exercising minds and debating time – Council Tax.

A tax that hits our older friends harder has moved firmly onto the agenda.

In recent years the Council Tax has risen well above inflation. And for those on a fixed income like the retired, it has been taking a larger and larger slice of their monthly money. Because, like the “Poll Tax” before it, the Council Tax takes very little account of ability to pay.

The pressure for change is substantial. Older folk suffer and older folk are more likely to vote and older folk are now speaking up in increasing numbers. I am far from the only MSP to have a queue at my surgeries on the subject.

So will things change?

Labour’s First Minister, Jack McConnell answered a question from SNP Leader, John Swinney earlier this month thus, “my personal view that there is a role for property taxation in any democracy that wants progressive taxation systems”.

The difficulty is that he has announced an “independent” review of council finance and here he is also announcing his view of the outcome. Doubts about the “independence” of the review he will establish are growing.

Every other party in the Parliament seeks reform – a majority favours a move away from buildings related tax. And given that Labour is a minority in Holyrood one would imagine that change would therefore follow. In the world of coalition politics it ain’t necessarily so.

While the junior partners in the coalition – the Liberals – have long campaigned, like the SNP, for a local income tax, there is a strong suspicion that they may once again be brought to heel by Labour on this issue as on so many others.

Liberal Minister Tavish Scott has said in Parliament “all taxation alternatives will have to be compared against agreed tests of fairness, economic impact, ability to pay, collection and cost of implementation”.

Fair enough in an independent review. But with the First Minister nailing his colours firmly to the mast in favour of a property-based tax we may already know the outcome – a Council Tax mark 2 – a tax no fairer to our older citizens than the present one.

Nursing a grudge

The Royal College of Nursing held its conference in Edinburgh this week. And took the opportunity to engage with MSPs.

With some fundamental changes looming up in the health service, more than ever will be expected of our nurses. Because with local GPs being able to opt out of providing “out of hours” cover overnight and at weekends, other health professionals will be likely to play a bigger role.

Not that that is necessarily a bad thing.

If I were to need to provide a sample of blood would I prefer a nurse or a doctor to take it? A nurse every time. They do it more often and are more expert as a result.

If I have to attend an Accident & Emergency department to have a cut stitched up, who does it? A nurse. But it has to be a doctor who decides what antibiotic drug I will take to prevent infection. Even though the nurse will invariably recommend the required drug.

So our nurses are a vital part of our NHS.

The government has an “Agenda for Change” in the health service. And the nurses made very clear what changes they think would enable them to deliver for patients.

With most new nurses completing their training as graduates, their skills and knowledge is much as doctors had only a few years ago.

The future should be bright for the profession.