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March 21st, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda The Scottish National Party-led government will now support the measures, which include additional tax and borrowing powers.
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore hailed the news, describing it as a “major step forward for devolution”.
However the Scottish government has warned that the bill will be “out of date before reaching the statute book”.
Bruce Crawford, the Cabinet Secretary for Government Strategy, added that the UK Government’s unwillingness to give further concessions “represents a real missed opportunity”.
Meanwhile, it was announced on Wednesday that Britain would ask for public and finance industry comment soon on a proposal for the Scottish government to issue its own bonds.
The idea is part of a proposed new law that will extend the devolved Scottish government’s tax-raising and borrowing powers and which the British government hopes will undercut support for independence that Scots are set to vote on in 2014.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that together, the new measures will enable the Scottish government to raise between 5 billion and 6 billion pounds of its budget in addition to around 4 billion pounds it currently raises in council tax and non-domestic rates.
An unexpected leap in UK public borrowing formed an unwelcome backdrop to Britain’s annual budget, which finance minister George Osborne was preparing to present.
The British government said the new law will bring about “the biggest transfer of fiscal power from London since the creation of the United Kingdom” 300 years ago.
After the British and Scottish governments agreed on details of the legislation, Downing Street said it would soon launch a consultation on the bond issuance proposal.
A consultation, which typically last three months, gives industry players and other interested parties the chance to comment on government proposals.
Borrowing limits will be reviewed regularly before spending reviews, the British government said in a statement.
The legislation, which is already working its way through the British and Scottish parliaments, provides for a new Scottish rate of income tax, the devolution of the stamp duty applied to land and property transactions, the power to create new taxes, and new borrowing powers.
Scotland’s nationalist government, which already controls some spending from its own parliament in Edinburgh, wants to hold a referendum in late 2014 on full independence that could spell an end to a 300-year-old union with England.
The British and Scottish governments disagree over the timing of the referendum and whether there should be one yes-or-no question on independence or various options.
MOL/JR/HE
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