Alex
Salmond
Alex Salmond has said SNP MPs would demand full
tax powers to support a Labour Government despite warnings this would mean
billions of pounds more of Scottish spending cuts thanks to the plummeting oil
price
.
The former First Minister’s intervention came as
Scottish Parliament research showed nearly 16,000 North Sea jobs are at risk,
the largest threat to employment faced by the country since the Ravenscraig
steel plant closed 23 years ago.
He predicted the Nationalists could win a
“barrow load” of seats in May’s general election and confirmed that a second
independence referendum would not be among his conditions for propping up a
minority Ed Miliband government.
Instead he said the SNP would demand “home
rule”, which he defined as control over everything except defence and foreign
affairs, meaning the Barnett formula would be abolished and Holyrood given
control over all taxes and spending.
But Unionist parties warned this would mean an
additional £18.6 billion of spending cuts to public services in Scotland thanks
to North Sea oil prices having nosedived to around $50 per barrel.
Further Reading
