:00:00. > :00:26.Is this really an anti-austerity budget?
:00:27. > :00:32.No tax rises may be popular with voters but I'll be asking
:00:33. > :00:34.the Finance Secretary whether his budget proposals
:00:35. > :00:41.We'll look at the winners and losers and hear what the other parties
:00:42. > :00:51.It was a chance to do things differently.
:00:52. > :00:53.An opportunity to use new powers to raise more money through taxation
:00:54. > :00:56.if he wanted to offset spending cuts handed down
:00:57. > :01:08.So did John Swinney rise to the challenge?
:01:09. > :01:14.Scotland can accept these Tory cuts are we can rise to the challenge and
:01:15. > :01:16.choose a Scottish alternative to austerity.
:01:17. > :01:18.So what was John Swinney's alternative offering to Westminster?
:01:19. > :01:22.But first our business and economy editor Douglas Fraser has the top
:01:23. > :01:30.The first time an income tax rate has been set for Scotland.
:01:31. > :01:33.And to mark the occasion, nothing happened.
:01:34. > :01:36.The Scottish rate was set at the same level we'd have had
:01:37. > :01:38.if the power had not come to the Scottish Parliament.
:01:39. > :01:41.Council tax was set at the same level as eight years ago.
:01:42. > :01:44.It stays in the deep freeze for a ninth year,
:01:45. > :01:46.saving the average family more than ?1,200, and costing
:01:47. > :01:47.the government ?630 million next year.
:01:48. > :01:57.Big business is going to have to find ?130 million more,
:01:58. > :02:02.And for those buying a second home, a holiday home or an investment flat
:02:03. > :02:06.to rent out, there will be an added charge on top of the transaction tax
:02:07. > :02:09.already put in place last April - that's 3% of value, taking the tax
:02:10. > :02:14.rate on the most expensive house purchases up to 15%.
:02:15. > :02:19.That's an idea borrowed from George Osborne last month.
:02:20. > :02:22.On the spending side of the ledger, there were more losers than winners.
:02:23. > :02:25.We knew that the health budget would be protected in real terms,
:02:26. > :02:27.up nearly ?700 million to almost ?13 billion -
:02:28. > :02:31.though it still faces big challenges.
:02:32. > :02:36.To provide our ageing population with hip replacements and the like,
:02:37. > :02:39.six new non-emergency hospitals are to be built over five years,
:02:40. > :02:43.relieving pressure on acute and emergency services.
:02:44. > :02:46.And a lot of money is being switched to councils for social care,
:02:47. > :02:50.to try to get services better joined up.
:02:51. > :02:52.Other spending choices give priority to housing,
:02:53. > :02:53.childcare, the digital economy and better broadband,
:02:54. > :02:55.while providing a response to the charge that police
:02:56. > :03:04.Those who lose out are right across government activities.
:03:05. > :03:08.A 3% efficiency squeeze is expected of publicly-funded bodies.
:03:09. > :03:11.It's councils that take the biggest hit - with ?320 million
:03:12. > :03:13.less in revenue budget, and a lot less to
:03:14. > :03:20.The prison service has been a soft target for cuts before,
:03:21. > :03:25.Arts and culture will have to get by on less government
:03:26. > :03:33.funding, and legal aid gets a further squeeze.
:03:34. > :03:35.Huw Williams has tuned into the political reaction,
:03:36. > :03:41.as well as the country beyond Holyrood.
:03:42. > :03:48.Mr Swinney sat down commending his Budget to Parliament but surprise
:03:49. > :03:53.surprise, opposition politicians were not convinced. After nine years
:03:54. > :03:58.in power, a majority in this Parliament and more powers than ever
:03:59. > :04:02.before, isn't it the case that in substantial areas of this Budget,
:04:03. > :04:08.John Swinney is simply copying George Osborne. For years she has
:04:09. > :04:12.betrayed himself as the prisoner of Westminster austerity but now he has
:04:13. > :04:17.been given the key to the door of his cell he has chosen not to use
:04:18. > :04:21.that! How can the Deputy First Minister tell this chamber hears
:04:22. > :04:26.rejecting austerity when he has not risen as single penny more even
:04:27. > :04:29.though he has the tax powers to do something about it? But business
:04:30. > :04:36.pressure groups welcomed the decision not to raise income tax
:04:37. > :04:42.rates or council tax rates. The spending is welcome for bridges and
:04:43. > :04:46.other things that we need in the development of the canine. Back
:04:47. > :04:52.continues which is good. We could do more on the wealth creation side.
:04:53. > :04:57.Innovation and research is welcome. Let us do more, focus on creating
:04:58. > :05:00.the wealth before we spend it. The body that represents most local
:05:01. > :05:04.authorities said the council tax freeze was unacceptable. The
:05:05. > :05:10.Scottish Government are making choices which means a 3.5% cut in
:05:11. > :05:15.Scottish local government, that equates to about 15,000 jobs, if you
:05:16. > :05:22.compare that to what happened at the Tata steel works, it is the
:05:23. > :05:25.equivalent of 50 of those closing. A welcome for promises on
:05:26. > :05:30.house-building hinted at earlier today with a photo opportunity. The
:05:31. > :05:34.Budget today has brought good news for affordable homes in Scotland,
:05:35. > :05:38.the significant increase going into meeting that target of 50,000. We
:05:39. > :05:43.want to make sure that a high percentage of that is socially
:05:44. > :05:48.rented homes available to those who are most in need of a home. We also
:05:49. > :05:53.welcome the news about the proposed increase in the land and building
:05:54. > :05:56.transaction tax and the 3% increase on second home mortgages and we
:05:57. > :06:00.think that will help level the playing field for first-time buyers
:06:01. > :06:04.and stabilise the market. There is a warning that challenges are ahead on
:06:05. > :06:07.reforming the tax system which simply cannot be docked. We think in
:06:08. > :06:17.new tax system has to be fairer and more progressive and we would like
:06:18. > :06:20.to see income tax reformed and see a good deal more introduced into the
:06:21. > :06:24.system but in local tax, we have seen a good report published from
:06:25. > :06:28.the commission on local tax reform and it is incumbent for him to pick
:06:29. > :06:31.one of these options. This could have been the Budget when the
:06:32. > :06:36.Scottish Government raised income tax rates to boost the cash it has
:06:37. > :06:41.to spend. Was it ever really going to do that? If you're John Swinney
:06:42. > :06:47.coming up to an election and you have the chance to raise taxes on
:06:48. > :06:50.everyone or cut taxes on everyone, which you was never going to do or
:06:51. > :06:55.keep them where they are and try and push the money around, you will
:06:56. > :06:59.always choose the latter option. It was the politically safe option.
:07:00. > :07:04.This is John Swinney who got his fingers burned with the penny for
:07:05. > :07:09.Scotland 15 years ago when he tried to get the electorate to back a rise
:07:10. > :07:14.in income tax and he failed electorally as a result. All in all
:07:15. > :07:15.profoundly political Budget, no surprise with Holyrood elections
:07:16. > :07:18.coming in May. So Douglas, the opposition
:07:19. > :07:22.parties were making much there of his decision not
:07:23. > :07:33.to change income tax? Indeed the argument as you heard
:07:34. > :07:37.from the opposition leaders was its austerity was so bad, as bad as the
:07:38. > :07:43.SNP has been saying, here are the powers we have been talking about,
:07:44. > :07:50.why not use them if this is such a serious austerity. To explain, this
:07:51. > :07:53.is their two stages, the first one enacted three years ago comes into
:07:54. > :08:02.effect in April next year, it means that people who are designated,
:08:03. > :08:06.taxpayers, and you code,. The Treasury is taking 10p of each of
:08:07. > :08:12.the bands of income tax that is paid at the moment. It is up to MSP is to
:08:13. > :08:17.decide if they want to put that 10p back in place which is what John
:08:18. > :08:21.Swinney wants to do or they could raise or lower that and deal with
:08:22. > :08:25.the consequences that there are for the Budget. As a consequence of
:08:26. > :08:30.that, the block grant is being cut which is a complex calculation as to
:08:31. > :08:34.how much it will be and then what happens in subsequent years. But
:08:35. > :08:39.then there is more legislation which is before the House of Lords at the
:08:40. > :08:44.moment, still controversial staff, this is about giving the possibility
:08:45. > :08:49.to vary the rates between different tax bands and different thresholds
:08:50. > :08:53.we have had. The powers we get next April is we have to raise everything
:08:54. > :08:56.by the same level or lower everything by the same threshold.
:08:57. > :09:01.That flexibility will be bitten -- Michael Boateng and John Swinney is
:09:02. > :09:06.talking about how he wants to use the powers to protect powers, the
:09:07. > :09:10.consequence is that you will hit higher earners harder. This all
:09:11. > :09:16.depends on getting to an agreement on the fiscal framework, very
:09:17. > :09:23.difficult ago she Asians about how much the block grant gets cut and
:09:24. > :09:26.not just in year one, but then what happens in the subsequent years
:09:27. > :09:28.depending on how policies change. They hope to get to an agreement on
:09:29. > :09:30.that in February. Was this simply a budget
:09:31. > :09:33.with one eye on the election or is there a big idea
:09:34. > :09:41.underpinning it all? Clearly the election is very much in
:09:42. > :09:46.the mind of John Swinney as it is in his political opponents. It is less
:09:47. > :09:51.than five months away before we get to the next Holyrood election and
:09:52. > :09:55.when he was talking about police and colleges and housing and child care
:09:56. > :10:00.these are clearly going to be significant priorities in that
:10:01. > :10:04.campaign from the SNP point of view. There is I think in this although in
:10:05. > :10:09.many ways it was a cautious Budget, not doing anything to frighten
:10:10. > :10:13.voters, there is a big idea, one we have heard before but there has not
:10:14. > :10:18.been much progress, public service reform which goes back before the
:10:19. > :10:21.SNP government. They want to see more digital access to public
:10:22. > :10:26.services so they can be provided more efficiently, that means job
:10:27. > :10:33.losses, they want to see smarter procurement. This money can then be
:10:34. > :10:38.saved through that as well. In the health service in particular, his
:10:39. > :10:41.Budget speech was talking about how much smarter working between
:10:42. > :10:45.councils and the NHS, as I was mentioning for social care can
:10:46. > :10:50.improve the outcomes that you get, get rid of the readmission and bed
:10:51. > :10:56.blocking problem is that there are in the health service and what John
:10:57. > :11:00.Swinney was telling his own backbenchers was that reform of the
:11:01. > :11:04.NHS is at least as important as putting more money on. That is a big
:11:05. > :11:09.challenge for Hollywood to get its head around because it has not
:11:10. > :11:14.really moved on to how you make services delivered differently and
:11:15. > :11:19.as a result of that you may find that there is much more of a
:11:20. > :11:21.challenge to the professional interests in medicine, education and
:11:22. > :11:26.taking on the vested interests of councils and that will be a
:11:27. > :11:30.challenge that we have not really seen from Holyrood as it shifts from
:11:31. > :11:34.distributing money in a block grant to raising money as well, seeing the
:11:35. > :11:39.consequences that flow through from that in terms of the economy perhaps
:11:40. > :11:43.growing faster, growing more slowly. For the first time we have heard
:11:44. > :11:49.from the Scottish Fiscal Commission about problems with taxes that are
:11:50. > :11:52.introduced last April. While it is reasonable what they are estimating
:11:53. > :11:58.at the moment, they are not really strong enough and they want to see
:11:59. > :11:59.an improvement in the forecasting as we have already seen in Westminster.
:12:00. > :12:02.Thank you. Well, John Swinney,
:12:03. > :12:03.the Finance Minister and Deputy First Minister came
:12:04. > :12:16.into our Dundee studio In what way was this a Scottish
:12:17. > :12:20.alternative to austerity. It is a Scottish alternative because we have
:12:21. > :12:25.taken decisions to invest in key public services and to take a set of
:12:26. > :12:29.decisions that mitigate against some of the worst cuts that have been
:12:30. > :12:34.made by the UK Government that affect individuals particularly as a
:12:35. > :12:39.consequence of welfare reform. Support in this Budget for people to
:12:40. > :12:42.avoid having to pay the bedroom tax, we have established the Scottish
:12:43. > :12:48.welfare fund to provide support for vulnerable in the -- individuals and
:12:49. > :12:53.in the face of cuts to some of the support for individuals in council
:12:54. > :12:58.tax payments, there is a scheme to provide assistance. Essentially we
:12:59. > :13:03.take a set of decisions to try and mitigate the effect of the UK
:13:04. > :13:07.Government's austerity programme and investing key services to support
:13:08. > :13:10.vulnerable people. You have had to make cuts and you have had the
:13:11. > :13:16.chance today to use new income tax powers to increase the size of your
:13:17. > :13:20.Budget, why do due use them? My judgment about the Scottish rate of
:13:21. > :13:32.income tax was that the power as it is currently constituted is pretty
:13:33. > :13:35.inflexible. If you want to exercise that power to increase the rate of
:13:36. > :13:37.taxation you have to increase it across all taxation bands. It is
:13:38. > :13:42.unavoidable to place a burden of increased taxation on people on low
:13:43. > :13:47.income households. It is a blunt instrument but still, just an extra
:13:48. > :13:49.penny on income tax could have raised an extra ?500 million and I
:13:50. > :13:54.am sure you could have found progress of ways to spend that
:13:55. > :13:59.money. What that would have done was put at disproportionate impact on
:14:00. > :14:04.the incomes of people in low income households and would have been about
:14:05. > :14:08.double the effect on the taxable income of individuals at the low
:14:09. > :14:13.pressure rolls rather than people on higher thresholds. I do not judge
:14:14. > :14:16.that to be the right way to deploy any tax changes because what that
:14:17. > :14:20.would do would be to further put pressure on the incomes of low
:14:21. > :14:26.income households which we know are under significant pressure as a
:14:27. > :14:29.consequence of the sturdy agenda. The Scottish alternative to
:14:30. > :14:33.austerity was to avoid doing that and instead find ways of supporting
:14:34. > :14:47.people who are vulnerable as a consequence of the welfare reforms
:14:48. > :14:50.of the UK Government. You commit now when you are able to vary individual
:14:51. > :14:55.bands to raise tax to make the wealthiest pay more? We have adopted
:14:56. > :15:00.and set out clearly our adherence to the aggressive principle and I
:15:01. > :15:05.deployed that aggressive taxation principle when I reformed the
:15:06. > :15:10.transaction tax. When you can raise income tax for the highest earners,
:15:11. > :15:15.will you do that? I am coming on to that point. What I said to
:15:16. > :15:19.Parliament today was that we would return to Parliament before the
:15:20. > :15:23.election in May and set out our longer term thinking on income tax
:15:24. > :15:26.once we have agreement around the financial rules that will underpin
:15:27. > :15:30.the new Scotland Bill and it is important that we have that
:15:31. > :15:33.financial agreement because it could significantly vary the amount of
:15:34. > :15:39.resources we have at our disposal. I need to have that information to
:15:40. > :15:44.enable me to inform the public about our long term intentions. I will
:15:45. > :15:47.come back to Parliament to make sure that people understand exactly where
:15:48. > :15:53.the SNP stance on that important question.
:15:54. > :16:02.You could say that you are committed to those with the broader shoulders
:16:03. > :16:06.paying more? I am committed to the progressive tax principle, which
:16:07. > :16:10.means that people should pay in proportion to their ability to.
:16:11. > :16:16.That's why I decided not to increase the Scottish rate of income tax, but
:16:17. > :16:21.to set it at 10p in the pound, because I could not provide a
:16:22. > :16:25.progressive principle to that. I am interested in exploring the
:16:26. > :16:32.opportunities there are to deploy regressive taxation when it comes to
:16:33. > :16:39.exercising avoiding tax powers. What about the council tax freeze? Is
:16:40. > :16:45.this the final year, because some are saying this will cause
:16:46. > :16:48.considerable pain? We have a commitment in our manifesto to
:16:49. > :16:52.freeze the council tax in this Parliament, and we have honoured
:16:53. > :16:57.that. People are under severe financial pressure and we need to
:16:58. > :17:02.try to assist them. The council tax has helped people considerably to
:17:03. > :17:06.benefit from a bill that hasn't increased at a time when many other
:17:07. > :17:12.costs have increased for households. At a time when you have had to cut
:17:13. > :17:17.what local government is going to be able to spend, and restrict their
:17:18. > :17:22.ability to raise more finance, they are saying is you cannot say now you
:17:23. > :17:27.are going to protect schools, home helps and childcare, because these
:17:28. > :17:31.are services they deliver. These services will be supported by other
:17:32. > :17:39.decisions I took today, such as the new investment we intend to make in
:17:40. > :17:43.the adult care -- social care services. That is an injection of
:17:44. > :17:51.new resources which is central to making that reform for services work
:17:52. > :17:54.best in Scotland. The national attainment framework that we have
:17:55. > :17:59.set out is about investing in new resources in some of our most
:18:00. > :18:03.deprived areas to work with young people to improve educational
:18:04. > :18:07.attainment, and to narrow the attainment gap that has the devil
:18:08. > :18:10.does for years. These are investments that the government is
:18:11. > :18:16.making in care and education, to make sure we support the delivery of
:18:17. > :18:21.these services. You have said you will raise an extra 130 inch pounds
:18:22. > :18:28.in taxing big businesses. How will that help the economy grow? Clearly,
:18:29. > :18:34.we will have that investment to make in some of the longer term economic
:18:35. > :18:40.developments that we make as a country. I was anxious to protect
:18:41. > :18:44.the higher education research project, because out of that will
:18:45. > :18:49.come some of the interventions, products and processes that will
:18:50. > :18:53.improve the competitiveness of the Scottish economy. Given the budget
:18:54. > :18:58.pressures I was under, I had to raise some new revenue. I raised it
:18:59. > :19:03.from the large business supplement, and other changes to business rates,
:19:04. > :19:07.to enable me to support longer term investment in the economy, that will
:19:08. > :19:14.make the Scottish economy more productive and strengthen our tax
:19:15. > :19:18.base. Will it send the right message to foreign companies who are
:19:19. > :19:23.considering inward investment here? If you look at the increase in
:19:24. > :19:27.business rates that will come in the forthcoming years as a consequence
:19:28. > :19:32.of the changes I will make, it will be an annual increase in business
:19:33. > :19:38.rates of 3.4% for the affected companies. In 2012, the increase was
:19:39. > :19:42.higher than that, simply by the application of the rate of
:19:43. > :19:47.inflation. So this is a modest increase as a consequence of the
:19:48. > :19:53.changes I have made. Companies will see this is important investment
:19:54. > :19:57.which will support the long-term investment potential of the Scottish
:19:58. > :20:01.economy, and enable us to improve productivity and create higher value
:20:02. > :20:05.employment in Scotland. We must leave it there. Thank you.
:20:06. > :20:08.And we can go now to three opposition MSPs -
:20:09. > :20:10.In Edinburgh for Scottish Labour - is Jackie Baillie.
:20:11. > :20:12.And for the Lib Dems - Willie Rennie.
:20:13. > :20:18.And in Dundee is the Scottish conservative - Murdo Fraser.
:20:19. > :20:27.Welcome to you all. Jackie Baillie, would a Labour government have put
:20:28. > :20:34.up income tax today? What we saw today was indeed a budget simply for
:20:35. > :20:39.an election, not for the long-term. The interesting thing is that we do
:20:40. > :20:44.have new powers coming over taxation and welfare that allowed us, if we
:20:45. > :20:48.were going to look long-term, to think differently about taxation.
:20:49. > :20:56.With the powers that are here just now, would a Labour government have
:20:57. > :21:00.put up income tax? We agree it is a blunt instrument just now, and you
:21:01. > :21:04.would affect basic rate taxpayers in some of the poorest communities as
:21:05. > :21:08.well as the more affluent. The issue that was missed here was the
:21:09. > :21:13.opportunity to set a budget over much longer than just one year. It
:21:14. > :21:18.was a three-year comprehensive spending review. If you look at the
:21:19. > :21:26.Independent experts at IPPR, they were saying clearly that the budget
:21:27. > :21:31.cuts to come in 2017-18 are far more severe. John Swinney didn't want to
:21:32. > :21:38.talk about that today. That is where the new powers would have proven to
:21:39. > :21:43.be particularly useful, I think. We have said we would increase the top
:21:44. > :21:51.rate of tax for 50p for those earning over ?150,000. We would put
:21:52. > :21:56.that directly into education. On this point of the income tax powers
:21:57. > :22:00.that could have been used today. Willie Rennie, you criticise John
:22:01. > :22:06.Swinney for not using them. Would the Lib terms have increased income
:22:07. > :22:10.tax? We wanted to see the Autumn Statement and the budget today
:22:11. > :22:15.before we make a final conclusion, but one of the benefits of the Lib
:22:16. > :22:19.Dems in the last administration in Westminster is we raised tax
:22:20. > :22:24.threshold is well above ?10,000, which meant that people on low and
:22:25. > :22:30.middle incomes benefited significantly from that. It would be
:22:31. > :22:33.much easier to increase the tax available to Scotland without
:22:34. > :22:37.punishing people on low and middle incomes to the degree that John
:22:38. > :22:46.Swinney claims. Would the Linn Dems have supported, say, an extra penny
:22:47. > :22:50.on income tax, which would have raised an extra ?500 million? This
:22:51. > :22:54.is something we are actively considering just now. We will finish
:22:55. > :23:01.our conclusions in the run-up to the elections, and put what we plan in
:23:02. > :23:07.our manifesto. The situation in public finances is difficult now.
:23:08. > :23:10.John Swinney cannot claim this is an anti austerities budget, yet do
:23:11. > :23:17.absolutely nothing about it. It isn't just income tax. You have to
:23:18. > :23:22.look at council tax. Council tax levels are lower in Scotland than
:23:23. > :23:28.they are in England. George Osborne is much more generous. APD - John
:23:29. > :23:38.Swinney wants to cut that by 15%. And he is matching John -- George
:23:39. > :23:43.Osborne penny for penny, which is why we have to look at things like
:23:44. > :23:48.the Scottish Water in investment, and things like APD, as well as the
:23:49. > :23:52.other taxes that John Swinney has within his gift. This is about
:23:53. > :23:58.balancing disciplined public spending and social justice. Murdo
:23:59. > :24:06.Fraser, you have said you wouldn't have raised income tax. Would you
:24:07. > :24:11.have cut income tax? I don't think so. It is worth remembering that in
:24:12. > :24:15.terms of the total available to John Swinney this year, for all his talk
:24:16. > :24:20.about austerity and cuts from Westminster, he has nearly ?400
:24:21. > :24:27.million more in cash terms for the coming year than he had in the
:24:28. > :24:32.current year. By 2020, the Scottish Budget will be 12.5% lower in real
:24:33. > :24:39.terms than when the Conservatives came to power. That is a political
:24:40. > :24:44.choice by the Chancellor. Do you agree that he should have used... It
:24:45. > :24:49.is a bit rich for you to say that he should have used these tax powers
:24:50. > :24:54.when it was a Conservative government that was imposing the
:24:55. > :24:58.first place. The Conservative government in Westminster is trying
:24:59. > :25:01.to balance the books. This talk of austerity is simply saying that we
:25:02. > :25:07.should live within our means as a country. If the Scottish Government
:25:08. > :25:11.decide they don't want to do it that way, if they decide they want to
:25:12. > :25:17.have a larger budget, the important thing is they now have that choice.
:25:18. > :25:21.They had the tools handed to them with the Scotland Act, which gave
:25:22. > :25:26.John Swinney the opportunity, if he wanted, to increase the amount of
:25:27. > :25:31.tax coming in by levying them out of income tax. These things coming out
:25:32. > :25:36.today about that not being progressive absolute nonsense. There
:25:37. > :25:41.are economists lined him up -- lining up to tell him that. He could
:25:42. > :25:45.have done it, but he knows it isn't politically popular. I think that's
:25:46. > :25:50.the right decision, but I hope it means we will hear no more bleating
:25:51. > :25:54.about austerity and Tory cuts from Westminster from John Swinney and
:25:55. > :25:57.his colleagues, even that they had the opportunity to do something
:25:58. > :26:02.different and chose not to. Jackie Baillie, what would you have done
:26:03. > :26:08.differently? Should the council tax freeze have been lifted? Council tax
:26:09. > :26:11.freeze is very marginal when you consider the overall level of
:26:12. > :26:18.funding for local government. John Swinney has cut local and by 7%. You
:26:19. > :26:23.cannot say that you want to protect schools and social care if you are
:26:24. > :26:29.squeezing the very people responsible for delivering it. He
:26:30. > :26:35.points to ?250 million shifted to social care. That is a consequential
:26:36. > :26:40.from the UK budget. We reckon it should be shifting ?340 million,
:26:41. > :26:44.that would enable them to pay social care workers a living wage that
:26:45. > :26:51.would have driven up standards in social care. Even there, he has cut
:26:52. > :26:56.the amount short. You cannot claim to be anti-austerity, yet your every
:26:57. > :27:00.action is simply about managing austerity. There was a missed
:27:01. > :27:04.opportunity here. We could have looked at a three-year budget, at
:27:05. > :27:09.the new powers coming, and we could have taken some decisions about the
:27:10. > :27:15.direction of travel for taxes. You cannot claim to be progressive and
:27:16. > :27:20.anti-austerity and then deliver a budget that copies so much of what
:27:21. > :27:26.George or is born -- George Osborne is doing. Do you think it is time to
:27:27. > :27:31.think about scrapping some of the more popular policies of this
:27:32. > :27:36.government, like free prescriptions? I have been quite frank about the
:27:37. > :27:42.Lib Dems position. We want to prioritise investment in mental
:27:43. > :27:46.health services. There was a ?600 million investment in what was often
:27:47. > :27:51.regarded as the poor relation within the NHS. What would you cut? These
:27:52. > :27:58.spending cuts will need to keep coming? I have been quite open about
:27:59. > :28:03.our considerations on taxing, and we would therefore also prioritise
:28:04. > :28:08.things like mental health services and child care, which, despite the
:28:09. > :28:12.government's rhetoric, has failed to get the right number of children
:28:13. > :28:18.into schools. These are the two costed repose all is that we put
:28:19. > :28:23.forward into the budget process. We have a track record of living within
:28:24. > :28:30.our means. We do not make big commitments like the SNP do, we have
:28:31. > :28:38.them costed. Our constructed way of approaching the budget is the right
:28:39. > :28:43.one. Mr Swinney suggested that the former public services and the NHS
:28:44. > :28:47.is going to be a priority over the coming years. Would you support
:28:48. > :28:53.that, Andy you think it is necessary? We want to see all the
:28:54. > :28:57.Barnett consequential is for NHS funding, which comes from the
:28:58. > :29:03.protected budget at Westminster being fed into the NHS. We don't
:29:04. > :29:08.believe that it's right to take money out of the NHS to give free
:29:09. > :29:14.prescriptions to people like MSPs, who can well afford to pay for them.
:29:15. > :29:19.If money is tight in the NHS, that is an area that could be used to pay
:29:20. > :29:24.for more nurses and hospital 's. So you would scrap free prescriptions?
:29:25. > :29:28.We have been clear about that. We would have exemptions for those who
:29:29. > :29:33.couldn't afford to pay, the retired, young people, and those with
:29:34. > :29:38.long-term conditions. But for people like MSPs who can afford to pay for
:29:39. > :29:42.prescriptions, it is a complete waste of precious resources to say
:29:43. > :29:49.that we should get that for free. These are the sort of hard choices
:29:50. > :29:50.we will need to make. That is all we have time for. Thank you all for
:29:51. > :29:52.coming in. I'm back tomorrow night, same time,
:29:53. > :29:58.so do join me if you can.