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Reform Vows Huge Tax Cut for Scots Costing Billions as Offord Insists Party Can Win
Reform Scotland plans a 1p income tax cut costing £2 billion immediately, funded by reallocating £9 billion from environmental and government agency spending.
- Malcolm Offord, Reform UK Scotland leader, unveiled in his first major speech in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, a plan to restore Scottish income tax bands to UK levels with an immediate 1p cut and a goal of 3p below within five years.
- Mr Offord said the immediate cost will be over £2 billion and that it would be funded by reallocating a £9 billion pot in environmental protection, economic development and 132 unaccountable quangos, while admitting no line-by-line review has been done.
- Offord cited a £700m ferries overspend as an example of waste, with re-alignment costing £1.2 billion now and £850m per 1p cut, totaling £3.7 billion within a Holyrood term.
- Critics quickly questioned feasibility and potential job impacts after the speech, with Professor James Mitchell deriding `Rejigging quangos` and Malcolm Offord ruling out major compulsory redundancies.
- Ahead of the May 7 election, the plan faces immediate parliamentary hurdles as any immediate tax cuts would require an emergency budget and MSPs to vote, while cuts to economic development budgets could affect public programmes.
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Reform promise tax cuts for Scots and to slash Scotland's bloated public sector - Scottish Daily Express
Reform Scotland leader Malcolm Offord promised tax cuts for Scots but ruled out cutting jobs in the public sector and benefits - claiming growing the private sector and slashing quangos was how the £2bn cut would be paid for.
Evening Standard+5 Reposted by 5 other sources
Offord announces £2bn in tax cuts if Reform win Holyrood election
The Reform leader was speaking at an event in Renfrewshire.
·London, United Kingdom
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources12
Leaning Left6Leaning Right1Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution55% Left
Bias Distribution
- 55% of the sources lean Left
55% Left
L 55%
C 36%
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