The Scottish Conservatives have claimed their tax plans have been “totally vindicated” by comments from one of Scotland’s most senior business figures.
Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, has warned higher taxes north of the border “could drive valuable talent away” and “act as a barrier to attracting new investment”.
The SNP, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens have all advocated having higher taxes in Scotland than in the rest of the UK in order to invest in public services.
But the Scottish Conservative’s Ross Thomson said Ms Cameron’s comments proved higher taxes would risk economic growth in the north-east.
The comments came after the Press and Journal revealed that the SNP’s tax plans would disproportionately hit families living in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
Mr Thomson, the Tories’ candidate in Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, said: “This is an important, unbiased intervention in the election campaign from business body Scottish Chambers of Commerce that totally vindicates our position on tax.
“In the north-east, the last thing that families want to hear is that taxes are going up, and we have already seen that the SNP’s double whammy on income tax and council tax will disproportionately hit those on middle incomes.
“We have lost thousands of jobs during the downturn in oil and gas, if we make Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK, then we will see a loss of talent and investment in this country at a time when we need it the most.”
Ms Cameron has said income tax should be “at least as competitive in Scotland as in any other part of the UK”.
She added: “If it isn’t, it could drive valuable talent away from Scotland and act as a barrier to attracting new investment in our economy.”
The SNP have said the Tories should be “ashamed” over their “deeply insulting” suggestion that people in the north-east “aren’t happy to pay their fair share”.
The other candidates standing in Aberdeen South and North Kincardine are the SNP’s Maureen Watt, the Scottish Liberal Democrat’s John Waddell and Scottish Labour’s Alison Evison.
