Making tax the plaything of Stormont incompetents is utter folly
24 March 2011
Responding to the news of the push for tax-varying powers for Stormont on Corporation Tax, TUV economics spokesman David Vance said; “At a time when the Northern Ireland block grant faces drastic cuts, it is staggering to see that almost all politicians here seek to add to this pain by risking losing hundreds of millions each year from the block grant in order to increase the profits of a handful of large corporations.
“This is not a coherent or considered economic response to the needs of an economy mired in recession, it is the reckless political gambling of those who on the one hand seek to advance all-Ireland fiscal harmonisation and on the other those who grasp at an idea to cover up their own abysmal stewardship of the economy.
“TUV believes that this is not the time to be cutting back further on hard-pressed public services nor is it the moment to risk future economic stability through speculative embrace of a cash chimera. Chancellor Osborne has already shown yesterday that he will cut Corporation Tax across the UK as a whole and this is the prudent route for Northern Ireland as part of the UK.
“Once we accept that our local CT rates can vary from the rest of the UK, which other taxes will follow? Giving an Executive that can’t even manage getting water from taps the scope to take tax from our earnings is a recipe for ruin and that is why TUV urges a more responsible and fiscally sound approach to helping our economy grow. Making tax the plaything of the Stormont incompetents is utter folly.”
