By Rab Bruce’s Spider

Having condemned Kezia Dugdale’s proposed 1p tax rise yesterday, I’ve had time to give the matter some second thoughts. In the interests of being fair to Scottish Labour, I have slightly amended my view.

Being totally honest, anyone with a moral conscience should not object to contributing a bit more in tax if it benefits the wider society they live in. Our propensity to demand lower taxes is a symptom of the selfish, greed-driven mindset which has dominated the UK for the past three and half decades and it’s about time we tried to change that perspective. When you ask yourself why £10 per month is better off in your pocket than in helping to fund schools, hospitals and other essential public services, complaining about a 1p tax rise makes you look more than a bit selfish.

But that’s about as far as my approval goes because there are a lot of issues around Labour’s proposal.

First of all, let’s not forget that the "Me First" culture is deeply ingrained in our society where a great many people have grown up knowing no other political philosophy. Don’t forget that, during the IndieRef, a poll revealed that many Scots would base their decision not on what they thought was best for the country as a whole but on whether they would personally be £10 a week worse off. That was risible at the time but it was also a revealing insight into how too many people make political decisions. However much we might deride such a standpoint, though, it is a fact of life and, from this perspective, Scottish Labour really ought to have sold their tax plan a bit more wisely. Simply telling people that 1 out of 4 workers would not pay any extra tax doesn’t cut it. If you want to persuade people to go along with tax rises, you really need to work hard at educating them as to your reasons.

Whatever Labour’s reasons, though, their new policy simply won’t work because it would hit the poorest in society hard. Their proposal for a rebate for the lowest paid workers shows that they understand this but what they have completely failed to acknowledge is that the so-called extensive new powers which might or might not be granted to the Scottish Government do not include any provision for authorising tax rebates, so it would need to be an entirely new system which administered these rebates which might themselves be taxed. And let’s not forget, as I pointed out yesterday, there is still no guarantee that any additional tax revenues would actually benefit Scotland in any case.

Naturally, the thing opponents of Labour’s plan have concentrated on is its impact on the lowest paid. While paying a bit more tax may be the socially responsible thing to do, £10 per month is a lot of money to far too many people and could make the difference between scraping by and needing to rely on a food bank. That’s why any tax increases need to be progressive, passing the burden onto those who can most afford it. But the devolved tax arrangements which the Scottish Government do have are insufficient to allow the introduction of progressive tax increases. With our extensive new powers, it’s everybody or nobody who gets hit by a tax increase. This, as mentioned yesterday, is the Tory tax trap which Kezia has blundered into.

As if that weren’t bad enough, Labour’s position on this is ironic in the extreme. Having spent the better part of two years telling Scots to vote to be controlled by Westminster or we would pay more in tax, they are now trying to tell us we need to pay more tax because we are controlled by Westminster. Honestly, the script writers for Yes, Prime Minister would have struggled to come up with something so breathtakingly inept. When you add this to the failure to understand just how much people have been conditioned to react negatively to higher taxes, Labour’s plan becomes farcical.

In summary, then, I think the proposed tax increase is morally justified, practically unworkable and politically inept. That’s about as favourable a view I can take on it. Not that it really matters, since Labour’s chances of forming the next Scottish Government are minimal at best and this half-baked policy is one of the reasons why.