SENSIBLE GOVERNMENT

John Swinney, Scotland's finance minister.

Imagine a government that increases the pay of the poorest government workers and curbs the pay of the richest government workers.

Imagine a government that freezes its main tax.

Imagine a government that increases the tax on out-of-town retail parks.

These are some of the measures which have been announced by the government in Scotland, a government which unfortunately still has limited powers.

The London government is collecting a lot of money from the revenues from Scottish oil.

But, the London government is to give the Scottish government a lot less money.

If Scotland was independent, it could keep all of the oil revenues.

At present Scotland has a Scottish National Party government (SNP).

If the Labour Party comes to power in Scotland, taxes could rise by £3000 for each Scottish family; Labour would allow 'council tax' to rise and that could mean the employment of more bureaucrats of the expensive kind.





On 17 November 2010, the Scotland's SNP government announced its budget.

The SNP is to freeze the 'Council Tax', yet again.

This help both families and small businesses

The SNP is in favour of helping small businesses.

The SNP budget protects the Small Business Bonus, protecting thousands of local jobs.

The SNP budget protects spending on the National Health Service.





The SNP budget will mean

1. Maintaining the freeze in the council tax in 2011-12;

2. Keeping 1,000 additional police officers on Scotland’s streets so
Scotland can keep its crime rate at its lowest level for 32 years;

3. Protecting teaching posts.

4. Continuing free care for the elderly

5. Continuing the policy of having no tuition fees at universities

6. Continuing infrastructure development, such as the Forth Road Bridge.

7. Continuing the development of Scotland's vast offshore renewable energy resource.

8. Delivering smaller and more efficient government.

9. In government, implementing a Living Wage of £7.15 per hour and providing a minimum annual increase of £250 for employees earning less than £21,000, while freezing pay for others and cutting the pay bill of the highest earners.

10. Reducing the Government’s Administration budget by 10 per cent and reducing the costs of the Senior Civil Service in Scotland by 10 per cent in 2011-12 and by 25 per cent over the next four years.

The SNP is the only credible government for Scotland.