Nicola Sturgeon accuses Labour of "true betrayal" on income tax

Labour has been accused of breaking a promise to protect low income households from an increase in income tax.

First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said any failure to protect low earners from a 1p income tax hike across all bands would be a true betrayal''.

When Kezia Dugdale set out her party's tax plans in February, she revealed a £100 annual rebate payment for those earning less than £20,000 to counteract the increase.

The party insists this measure was designed only for the year 2016/17 until Holyrood gains greater control over income tax bands and rates, and that recent changes to the tax free personal allowance mean those on lower salaries will continue to be protected.

Chancellor George Osborne announced in his Budget earlier this month that from April 2017, workers across the UK will be able to earn £11,500 before they start to pay tax.

Ms Sturgeon called on Labour to clarify whether people on low incomes who live in Scotland would be hit by higher taxes.

This would be a broken promise from Labour of the worst kind,'' she said.

It is bad enough that the Labour Party wants to put up taxes on 2.2 million basic rate taxpayers, including 500,000 pensioners, but to fail to offer any protection to those on the lowest earnings would be a true betrayal of Labour's roots.

Labour have clearly made promises to taxpayers that they are not willing or able to keep.

There is a simple question for Labour, will low income households receive a £100 rebate or will the Labour Party take away the boost for low earners that comes from the personal allowance, to pay for Tory austerity?''

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said Ms Dugdale's plan was so ludicrously ill-thought out that even she has now decided to scrap it''.

She added: Unfortunately, in its place she has decided just to take more money out of the pay packets of those on below-average incomes.''

Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie, whose party is also calling for a 1p increase in income tax, said:

Thanks to the Liberal Democrats in government, the personal allowance rose taking thousands of people out of tax altogether and cutting income tax for everyone else by £825.

To pay for our £2.5 billion investment in education we are only asking for £25 back from someone earning £15,000. That means they are still £800 better off.''

Defending the policy, a spokesman for Scottish Labour said: Scottish Labour is fighting this election on a pledge to end the cuts in Scotland in order to invest in our public services.

We'll do that by raising income tax by a penny and by asking the wealthiest 1% to pay a little more with a 50p tax for those earning more than £150,000. Unlike the SNP we believe the richest 1% should pay their fair share.

The original payment of £100 was for one year to ensure that those earning under £20,000 would not pay more than today. We always said this was for 2016/17 only.

We promised to protect those on low incomes and to make sure those with the broadest shoulders pay the most, and that is what our plans do.

Under our plans those earning under £20,000 won't pay a penny more than they pay today because of the recent changes being made to the personal allowance.

Our decision to increase the top rate, and to maintain the threshold for higher rate taxpayers as it is today, means the wealthiest will pay the most to stop the cuts.''

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