Our place to talk – an independent website for supporters of the Liberal Democrat party in the UK.

The most-read independent website by and for Lib Dem supporters. Not paid for by trade unions or millionaires.

Advert

Tag Archives: hypothecation

Opinion: Federalism and hypothecation do not mix

By Energlyn Churchill | Wed 3rd September 2014 - 12:45 pm

I was dismayed to read in Mohsin Khan’s recent piece calling for an NHS contribution that the leadership is, again, considering an NHS tax.

How history repeats itself. Ten or so years ago, when working for the Welsh Party, I opposed plans for what the Federal Policy Committee was then also referring to as an NHS contribution. My contention was, and remains, that a commitment to a Federal UK is not compatible with hypothecated taxation.

Whilst taxes are collected at a UK level, spending priorities are determined by devolved institutions. In our devolved context, any claim that a tax is truly hypothecated is simply dishonest. We could not guarantee that a centrally collected NHS tax would be spent on the NHS in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. It is impossible to require a particular portion of taxation to be spent in the devolved nations on specific areas without requiring them to do so by law. This would laugh in the face of the liberal principle of subsidiarity and is clearly a non-starter.

Continue reading »

Posted in News | Also tagged federalism, tax and uk | 4 Comments

Most Read

Op-eds

Say hello to the Groper’s Charter (John Grout)
Kashmir in Crisis: Navigating the Aftermath of the Pahalgam Attack (Mo Waqas)
The responsibility of Parliament to act on the Gaza War (Andy Daer)
William Wallace writes: How should liberals mark VE Day (Lord William Wallace)
A thief in the night (Hugh Andrew)

Advert

Recent Comments

Steve Trevethan
My response to the latest comment of David Raw is that I too am a resident in Scotland where I also find the health service to be outstanding, as well as being ...
Geoff Reid
For a good short read to mark VE Day I recommend George Orwell's 1945 essay "Notes on Nationalism", which manages to be both eccentric and insightful in his hop...
Michael BG
Mark Frankel, Israel broke the terms of the cease fire announced on 15th January, by not engaging in stage two negotiations. Instead of engaging in negotiati...
Peter Martin
"The Palestinians are their own worst enemies." Benjamin Netanyahu would probably claim the 'credit' on that one!...
Peter Davies
by 'The Palestinians' do you mean Hamas. These guys https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c175z14r8pro and https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g20pj6epvo don't....