With Britain just recovering from a devastating recession and the new Coalition Government having to make necessary cuts due to the high debt left to us by the previous Labour Government, it was hoped in England that Scotland's preferential treatment and all the great freebies given to the Scottish people will be a thing of the past.
But it seems that whilst the English are going to be made to suffer from the cuts the Scots, again, will be let off lightly.
Scotland's devolved "Government", the Scottish National Party, has caused anger in England by pressing ahead with FREE prescriptions for Scottish patients. They'll be free to Scottish patients because the ENGLISH taxpayer will be paying for them.
And now TaxPayers' Alliance campaign manager Fiona McEvoy said the measure was the latest in a series of moves which disadvantaged English taxpayers compared to their Scottish counterparts. She blames the unfair Barnett Formula, which favours Scotland but leaves England at a disadvantage and gives Scotland around £1,500 more per head of population than England. This is despite the fact that the man who drew up the Barnett Formula in the 1970s has since said it is out of date and needs scrapping.
The Scots also enjoy free university education and free care for the elderly - all things which are denied to the English but paid for by the English taxpayer!
Ms McEvoy has said that the Scottish people themselves should raise the money to pay for these things (what a novel idea).
It is the free university education fees which particularly gall the English. Scotland has no university tuition fees because Scottish politicians voted against against them in the Scottish parliament. English politicians, of course, had no say in the matter. However, pupils in England must pay university tuition fees thanks to mainly Scottish politicians voting FOR university tuition fees in England - even though English MPs had no say on the matter in Scotland.
This unfairness is precisely the reason why there is a campaign underway in England for England to have its own Parliament (if Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can have their own parliaments then why can't England?) or, at the very least, for Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish politicians to be banned from voting on English-only matters.
The Scottish Government will press ahead with plans to scrap prescription charges entirely, says Nicola Sturgeon
17 October 2010
Scotland on Sunday
Scots: They don't realise England has just come out of recession and English taxpayers can't keep paying for their freebies
The Scottish Government's decision to press ahead with free prescriptions has sparked anger south of the border over disparities with treatment for English patients.
Scottish National Party Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that all prescription charges will be abolished in Scotland as planned in April next year.
The move came despite Finance Secretary John Swinney's admission earlier this week that the Holyrood executive's budget is expected to fall by £1.1 billion as a result of the cuts being announced in Chancellor George Osborne's comprehensive spending review (CSR) on Wednesday.
Mr Osborne has protected NHS spending in the CSR, which is expected to usher in cuts totalling £83 billion elsewhere in the public sector. But it is thought unlikely that the CSR settlement will permit the introduction of free prescriptions for English patients with long-term conditions, initially promised by Gordon Brown in 2008.
In a statement ahead of her speech to the SNP conference on Saturday, Ms Sturgeon said: "The prescription charge is a tax on ill health that Scotland's poorest families can ill afford. Some have argued that in this financial climate, we should not go ahead with our plan to abolish prescription charges. Well, times are tight and we believe that the last people who should be paying the price of the current economic mess are the sick."
Since coming into power in 2007, the SNP administration has already reduced the cost of a single-item prescription from £6.85 to £3.
Removing the charge altogether is expected to cost around £40 million. By contrast, patients in England pay £7.20 for each prescription, or £104 for a 12-month pre-payment scheme for those with chronic conditions. Benefit claimants, pensioners, pregnant women, children and sufferers from certain conditions do not have to pay.
TaxPayers' Alliance campaign manager Fiona McEvoy said the measure was the latest in a series of moves which disadvantaged English taxpayers compared to their Scottish counterparts.
She blamed the Barnett Formula mechanism for allocating central Government funds to the different parts of the UK, which has long attracted criticism because it gives Scotland around £1,500 more per head of population than England.
Ms McEvoy said: "This ill-timed move will just place more financial strain on English taxpayers who are already paying for free university education and free care for the elderly in Scotland.
"Many will see this as another example of the unfairness caused by the Barnett formula. The SNP should have to raise the money to fund these prescriptions within Scotland to avoid them making vote-winning decisions at the expense of the rest of us."
Prescriptions disparity sparks fury - Scotland on Sunday
But it seems that whilst the English are going to be made to suffer from the cuts the Scots, again, will be let off lightly.
Scotland's devolved "Government", the Scottish National Party, has caused anger in England by pressing ahead with FREE prescriptions for Scottish patients. They'll be free to Scottish patients because the ENGLISH taxpayer will be paying for them.
And now TaxPayers' Alliance campaign manager Fiona McEvoy said the measure was the latest in a series of moves which disadvantaged English taxpayers compared to their Scottish counterparts. She blames the unfair Barnett Formula, which favours Scotland but leaves England at a disadvantage and gives Scotland around £1,500 more per head of population than England. This is despite the fact that the man who drew up the Barnett Formula in the 1970s has since said it is out of date and needs scrapping.
The Scots also enjoy free university education and free care for the elderly - all things which are denied to the English but paid for by the English taxpayer!
Ms McEvoy has said that the Scottish people themselves should raise the money to pay for these things (what a novel idea).
It is the free university education fees which particularly gall the English. Scotland has no university tuition fees because Scottish politicians voted against against them in the Scottish parliament. English politicians, of course, had no say in the matter. However, pupils in England must pay university tuition fees thanks to mainly Scottish politicians voting FOR university tuition fees in England - even though English MPs had no say on the matter in Scotland.
This unfairness is precisely the reason why there is a campaign underway in England for England to have its own Parliament (if Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can have their own parliaments then why can't England?) or, at the very least, for Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish politicians to be banned from voting on English-only matters.
The Scottish Government will press ahead with plans to scrap prescription charges entirely, says Nicola Sturgeon
17 October 2010
Scotland on Sunday
Scots: They don't realise England has just come out of recession and English taxpayers can't keep paying for their freebies
The Scottish Government's decision to press ahead with free prescriptions has sparked anger south of the border over disparities with treatment for English patients.
Scottish National Party Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that all prescription charges will be abolished in Scotland as planned in April next year.
The move came despite Finance Secretary John Swinney's admission earlier this week that the Holyrood executive's budget is expected to fall by £1.1 billion as a result of the cuts being announced in Chancellor George Osborne's comprehensive spending review (CSR) on Wednesday.
Mr Osborne has protected NHS spending in the CSR, which is expected to usher in cuts totalling £83 billion elsewhere in the public sector. But it is thought unlikely that the CSR settlement will permit the introduction of free prescriptions for English patients with long-term conditions, initially promised by Gordon Brown in 2008.
In a statement ahead of her speech to the SNP conference on Saturday, Ms Sturgeon said: "The prescription charge is a tax on ill health that Scotland's poorest families can ill afford. Some have argued that in this financial climate, we should not go ahead with our plan to abolish prescription charges. Well, times are tight and we believe that the last people who should be paying the price of the current economic mess are the sick."
Since coming into power in 2007, the SNP administration has already reduced the cost of a single-item prescription from £6.85 to £3.
Removing the charge altogether is expected to cost around £40 million. By contrast, patients in England pay £7.20 for each prescription, or £104 for a 12-month pre-payment scheme for those with chronic conditions. Benefit claimants, pensioners, pregnant women, children and sufferers from certain conditions do not have to pay.
TaxPayers' Alliance campaign manager Fiona McEvoy said the measure was the latest in a series of moves which disadvantaged English taxpayers compared to their Scottish counterparts.
She blamed the Barnett Formula mechanism for allocating central Government funds to the different parts of the UK, which has long attracted criticism because it gives Scotland around £1,500 more per head of population than England.
Ms McEvoy said: "This ill-timed move will just place more financial strain on English taxpayers who are already paying for free university education and free care for the elderly in Scotland.
"Many will see this as another example of the unfairness caused by the Barnett formula. The SNP should have to raise the money to fund these prescriptions within Scotland to avoid them making vote-winning decisions at the expense of the rest of us."
Prescriptions disparity sparks fury - Scotland on Sunday
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