THE UK Government has been forced into an embarrassing U-turn on their plans to abolish the upper 45 per cent rate of tax.
But what is bad for the Tories in London, is dreadful for their lackeys north of the Border.
Already on thin ice at the head of his party, Douglas Ross has been humiliated by his own allies (again) after the U-turn was announced a good ten days into his calls for the Scottish Government to copy the policy.
Even Michael Gove had warned against the tax cuts for the rich, funded by £45 billion of extra borrowing, calling it un-Conservative.
But Ross’s Scottish Tories all thought it was a great idea. Here’s seven tweets they’ll probably wish they’d never sent.
Turbo-charging the economy.
Never one to come up with his own lines, Douglas Ross echoed Liz Truss in the wake of the disastrous “mini-budget”. He wrote on Twitter: “The UK Government has delivered tax cuts to turbo-charge our economy.
“The SNP must match these bold plans – and pass on the UK tax cuts to 2.4 million Scottish people.”
The UK Government has delivered tax cuts to turbo-charge our economy. The SNP must match these bold plans - and pass on the UK tax cuts to 2.4 million Scottish people 🏴🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/POtynpGiEi
— Douglas Ross MP MSP (@Douglas4Moray) September 23, 2022
It will be interesting to see if he stands by that.
Out and about in Kelso.
Keen to enter the “things that never actually happened” competition, Scottish Tory MP John Lamont tweeted on September 24: “I’ve been out and about speaking to local residents in Kelso and it’s clear that they want Nicola Sturgeon/SNP to pass on the UKGov’s tax cut for workers and homebuyers.
“Scotland should not pay more tax than the rest of the UK.”
He must have had some task digging up those Kelso residents that supported the tax cuts for the rich – with YouGov polling finding that move was opposed by 72% of respondents, including 69% of participants who voted Tory in 2019.
I’ve been out and about speaking to local residents in Kelso and it’s clear that they want Nicola Sturgeon/SNP to pass on the UKGov’s tax cut for workers and homebuyers. Scotland should not pay more tax than the rest of the UK. pic.twitter.com/jZwiua8CMg
— John Lamont MP 🇬🇧🏴 (@John2Win) September 24, 2022
‘Ordinary, hard-working Scots’.
Scottish Tory chairman Craig Hoy had a few cracks at the Scottish Government after they refused to follow the UK Government’s terrible tax cut policies.
“So will the SNP side with ordinary hard working Scots?” he wrote in one still-not-deleted tweet.
“In a cost of living crisis, surely a focus on protecting wage packets and promoting growth should be the government’s priority?”
So will the SNP side with ordinary hard working Scots? In a cost of living crisis, surely a focus on protecting wage packets and promoting growth should be the government’s priority? https://t.co/3LYAiiZnI6
— Craig Hoy MSP (@CraigWHoy1) September 23, 2022
How better to protect wage packets than by worsening inflationary pressures with swingeing tax cuts for the rich, all funded by borrowing?
‘Morally repugnant’.
The Scottish Tories former chief whip, now education spokesperson Stephen Kerr has been on something of a Twitter spree since the UK Government announced the tax cuts.
It would be tiresome to list everything the MSP has said – it is tiresome enough listing anything he’s said.
But one highlight came in one of his many angry responses to the First Minister. The refusal of the Scottish Government to copy tax cuts for the rich was “morally repugnant” he claimed.
Does that apply to his own allies in London now they’ve backed down?
'A very positive response’.
Apparently just back from opposite-world, Scottish Tory finance spokesperson Liz Smith was under the impression that the plummeting value of the pound and market chaos which followed Kwasi Kwarteng’s “mini-budget” was actually a “very positive response” from the business community.
In a video posted to Twitter, Smith praises the Tory government going for a “low-tax, high growth economy”.
“The message from business is for the SNP to match that agenda,” she said.
Response to today's budget 👇 pic.twitter.com/nPtOGQX5IE
— Liz Smith (@mspliz) September 23, 2022
Smith seems to have been getting different messages to the rest of us.
‘Political grievances’.
Why would the Scottish Government refuse to copy a disastrous “mini-budget” that led to an unprecedented move from the Bank of England to save pension funds, let alone the remarkable intervention of the International Monetary Fund?
Could it be because it was a disastrous policy? Or could it be that the SNP have “political grievances”? You can probably guess what Tory MSP Pam Gosal thought.
The SNP must follow suit with the bold tax cuts announced today by the Chancellor. Growth is not a priority for this sluggish SNP Government. They cannot be allowed to hold this country back by punishing hard-working Scots with their political grievances.
— Pam Gosal MSP (@PamGosalMSP) September 23, 2022
“The SNP must follow suit with the bold tax cuts announced today by the Chancellor. Growth is not a priority for this sluggish SNP Government.
“They cannot be allowed to hold this country back by punishing hard-working Scots with their political grievances.”
Embarrassing.
Murdo Fraser.
Not content with an ill-judged tweet here or there, the Scottish Tories twitter-troll-in-chief, Murdo Fraser clogged his whole timeline up with calls for the Edinburgh government to copy the Tories’ tax cuts.
He even wrote a whole column about it for the Scotsman, pushing it out on social media more than once – even as the value of the pound fell to record lows.
Fraser claimed the refusal to copy the tax cuts was linked to “the First Minister’s addiction to virtue signalling”.
In a tract that bordered on sexist, he went on: “The current First Minister appears to have nothing but contempt for wealth creators, unless they make shoes. She likes spending money but has no time for making it.”
“With the rest of the United Kingdom choosing to follow a radical new policy to stimulate growth, the Scottish administration has to respond. The response that is in the national interest is clear: to follow Westminster’s lead.”
How’s following Westminster’s lead worked out for Fraser? Other than publicly embarrassing him after their U-turns?
