LEADER OF THE HOUSE REFUSES TO ACCEPT HER OWN GOVERNMENT’S FIGURES

I again asked the Leader of the House if she would correct the record after she peddled the old trope that people in Scotland pay more tax than those who live in England, when the reality is that the majority of people in Scotland pay less tax than if they lived in England – including Council Tax.

She also said her Government had delivered a balanced budget when the reality is that no UK Government has delivered a balanced budget since 2000/2001 and her Government pays the equivalent of £318m per day in debt interest.

This is based on her own Government’s information sourced via the House of Commons Library.

Meanwhile the Scottish Government must deliver a balanced budget every single year by law.

She again has refused to correct the record and continues to peddle information which she must know to be untrue – this is a very serious matter which I will pursue.

It is not acceptable for any Government Minster to come to the dispatch box and say things which are not true and continue to do so in the face of clear evidence to the contrary.