By Rab Bruce’s Spider

So the Vow has been / Is being / will be delivered by the Scotland Bill. Not that it would be difficult to claim this since the Vow didn’t actually promise anything very much at all although it is noticeably undelivered in one major aspect – that of timing. If Scotland had voted Yes, we would have been a normal country from March, 2016 but most of the safer, faster powers the Scotland Bill will bring us will not be effective until April, 2017. If anyone can explain how that is faster, I’d be interested to understand.

But we must respect the democratic decision of the Scottish people and the majority voted to remain part of the UK. What remains a mystery is why so many people remain so loyal / frightened / uncertain / gullible that they still cannot see what is being done to Scotland as a result of that vote.

Before the IndieRef, Yes campaigners warned that Scotland would be punished for having the temerity to argue for the right to become a normal country. That warning has, sadly, been fulfilled. The Tories have gone out of their way to punish all Scots, not just those who voted Yes. Whether it is through the cancellation of subsidies for renewable energy, an unwillingness to support the steel industry, the reduction in the Scottish block grant, the forced closure of power stations, or the bribing of Youngs to close their Fraserburgh factory in favour of transferring work to Grimsby, the people of Scotland are being deliberately targeted in a systematic policy of ensuring that we become even more of an economic basketcase so that Westminster can continue to trumpet the need for us to remain within the Union because we are too small and too poor to be independent. It is galling that so many Proud Scots still believe this warped view of their own country and seem unable to see that they are suffering as much as anyone because Westminster simply does not care about them.

But the Scotland Bill is the worst punishment of them all. Far from being intended to provide additional powers to bring us as near to Federalism as possible, it is designed solely as a tool with which to damage the SNP. There is a massive trap and it’s poorly concealed although the Scottish media are doing their best to distract us from it. But it’s a big one and it is called Income Tax.

The cry David Mundell, the Scottish Secretary, is making is that the Scottish Government should use its tax powers to mitigate the effects of the Tories own attacks on the poorest people in society. This is quite shocking, since it is virtually an open admission that the Tories are engaged in class warfare but you only need to watch Prime Minister’s Questions on Parliament TV to see hundreds of Tory MPs laughing loudly whenever anyone mentions cuts to tax credits or other Social Security benefits. These people really are the epitome of the neo-liberal mindset that greed and self-interest are moral values to be proud of.

But, you may ask, where is this trap? Why can’t the Scottish Government put our money where its mouth is and increase income tax to offset the Tory cuts? Well, it’s no coincidence that it is Income Tax that the Scottish Government is being given limited powers over. Governments in normal countries have full powers over a variety of levers if they wish to increase their revenues. For example, the list includes Capital Gains Tax, Corporation Tax, Land & Buildings Transaction Tax, Value Added Tax, Inheritance Tax, Import and Export duties, Fuel Duty and Alcohol Duty to name but a few. Admittedly, raising some of these would disproportionately hurt the poorest in society but the point is that normal Governments have a range of tools at their disposal. Some might even argue that lowering Corporation Tax to encourage businesses to locate in Scotland would actually increase the Government’s tax revenue as a result of the new jobs it would create.

But the Scottish Government has no power to do any of this. All it will eventually be able to do is increase Income Tax, the most visible of all taxes. The Scottish media are already primed to launch their attacks if this happens and will no doubt be believed by Proud Scots who have been conditioned by decades of neo-liberal propaganda to believe that high taxes are bad because, you know, greed and self-interest are more important than living in a decent society that tries to look after all its citizens, but which might mean most of us contributing a little more of our income in taxes. If the Scottish Government goes down this route, the media will crucify them but if they do nothing to offset the Tory cuts, the media will crucify them.

That’s why the Tories have called the SNP’s bluff and, if latest news reports are to be believed, have agreed to allow the Scottish Government the power to control Tax credits. This might sound good but it is utterly useless without the resources to replace the money the recipients are going to lose. The Scottish Government has neither the technical systems to administer such a scheme nor the money to cover the cuts unless it makes swingeing reductions in public spending elsewhere or raises Income Tax significantly.

The big moral question is why any Scottish Government should need to do this simply in order to mitigate the anti-social policies of Westminster. Perhaps that’s a question Proud Scots who voted NO could answer. As for the practical question of what the Scottish Government can do, they are in a no win situation until enough of the loyal / frightened / uncertain / gullible wake up and realise that independence from Westminster is the only viable route Scotland can take.

The worst part of all this is that the Tories are playing politics for selfish, short-term goals and it is real people who will suffer the vindictiveness of their attacks on the working poor, the disabled and the unemployed.

As an irritating afterthought, one might ask whether there is any hope to found in a resurgent Labour Party. The short answer is no. Jeremy Corbyn is just another Unionist with little knowledge of, nor interest in, Scotland. His leader in Scotland, Kezia Dugdale, is nothing more than an opportunist, as evidenced by her Twitter feed last night when she crowed that not a single SNP MSP stood up to explain how cutting Air Passenger Duty would help offset the Tax credit cuts she insists her Party would reverse even though they have neither the technical nor financial resources to do so. Of course, the reason nobody explained this was because it is such a moronic argument. Anyone who believes there is a direct link between Air Passenger Duty and Tax Credits really shouldn’t be allowed to hold political office of any sort. But, like her Tory allies, Kezia Dugdale is playing at politics with no heed for the actual harm the Tories are doing to Scotland. She believes we are Better Together but then gloats when a hamstrung Scottish Government is unable to combat the harmful Tory policies she fought so hard to keep us in thrall to.

I wish I could put a positive spin on all this and suggest a way forward but, quite frankly, I can’t see one. Let’s hope Nicola Sturgeon and her colleagues can produce the magic wand Labour seem to think they possess. I have no doubt the SNP will do their best but, thanks to the votes of the Proud Scots last year, their options are severely limited. In any event, it will be at least an entire year before the Scottish Government has the legal authority to do anything to offset the cuts which are due to come into effect next April. And that assumes they can somehow manage to build an IT system to administer the required payments. A week may be a long time in politics but a whole year with thousands of pounds taken away from your income will feel like an eternity for thousands of people.

The harsh truth is that if you voted NO in the IndieRef, you bear some of the responsibility for this state of affairs. That is not an attempt to point the finger and apportion blame in a smug way but to try to make you understand that you made a mistake and that there is only one way to rectify it. The sooner a majority of Scots supports independence, the better for all of us. The loyal Unionists will never change their minds but the frightened / uncertain / gullible must surely see that there is more to fear from remaining part of a dysfunctional UK than standing on our own feet like a normal country. It won’t solve all society’s problems because every country has problems but it would remove us from the vindictive impositions of a Westminster elite which is determined to crush any resistance to its hegemony. It would be the first step on the ladder towards a more fair and prosperous Scotland and the sooner we take that step, the better.