Independence Debate

Polly Toynbee wrote a long and boring article on the Scottish independence debate for The Guardian the other day, an extract of which is reproduced below.

"The first question is whether Scotland could hack it alone, and the answer – though Alistair Darling could not quite squeeze it out during the famous debate – is of course yes, though it might hurt. Among the most compelling yes voices is the group Common Weal. Its Robin McAlpine paints a vision of escape from the dark world of Cameron’s atomised, state-shredding, welfare-destroying society. If Scotland distributed earnings as fairly as Norway, the poorest would be on £25k and everyone would be better off, with the Holyrood treasury gaining £4bn. He talks of the awakening of unpolitical people to the possibilities of a better future – not parties but communities enlivened to take action for themselves, to thrive whichever way the vote goes, quoting “a granny” who said that from now on “I’m no going back to my sofa!”

That’s inspiring, but it is not the whole story. Though tribally anti-Tory, there’s no great sign that Scotland is more than a little to the left of Britain. Inequality is as wide, poverty as deep, and it would take an enormous shift in income distribution to match Norway. That means huge predistribution of pay and redistribution of tax and benefits. What has Scotland done with its powers so far? Neither Labour nor the SNP used any of the 3p extra they could raise in income tax: easier to do it next year with new rules, but no party dares talk of raising tax. Instead, Salmond promises a beggar-my-neighbour cut in corporation tax in a deadly race to the bottom, letting business pay even less.

Nor have the poor come first. The SNP opposed tuition fees and introduced free care and prescriptions, but all those were free anyway for the poor, so the sizeable funds spent went to those on middle incomes and above. In other words, it looks as if Scots politicians calculate their voters are not entirely different from the rest of Britain."

Now I happen to agree with Polly about the effect of policies such as free school meals and prescription charges which have benefited middle income earners rather than the low paid, since these items were free already to people on benefits and lower income groups. 

But where Polly betrays her lack of 'nous' and understanding about Scotland's politics is that the group she seems to admire, Common Weal, is right behind these initiatives which are aimed at the 'squeezed middle' so beloved of Ed Miliband and the Labour Party south of the border, while doing nothing for the poor and low paid.