Nationalise the National Grid
WITHOUT repeating all the reasons, such as better public services and lower council tax bills and so on than in the rest of the UK, higher income tax in Scotland has resulted in a higher standard of living, but only half of that enjoyed by our independent neighbours in Ireland and Scandinavia. Also, the latest National Records of Scotland figures show that 12,500 more people moved to Scotland from the rest of the UK than left in the most recent year, and this migration was across all tax bands.
The main problem for businesses is the lack of skilled workers, which will hamper ambitious house building plans or growing the economy, a situation exacerbated by Brexit which the new UK Government supports, yet it has U-turned on a dedicated Scottish visa scheme.
In another success story for the Scottish Government’s overseas offices, Scotland’s increased foreign direct investment in 2023 was double that of the rest of the
UK with an increase of 13% on the previous year, yet the new Labour Government wants to pass control of these offices to the Secretary of State to further undermine Holyrood’s powers.
Scotland is a net exporter of energy, and this week the CEO of Octopus Energy claimed we could experience periods of free electricity if Ofgem modified its regulations to better utilise renewable energy. If the Labour Government was serious about fuel poverty it would nationalise the privately-run National Grid that has failed to invest in proper infrastructure and hindered Scotland’s vast cheap renewable energy potential. Labour’s muchheralded GB Energy is just another PFI scheme and the omens aren’t good when Ian Murray refused to say that Labour wouldn’t impose nuclear power stations on Scotland against the wishes of our Scottish Parliament.