John Swinney ‘shambles’ over stamp duty plans
JOHN Swinney’s flagship plan to replace stamp duty has been hit by staffing and IT problems which could increase collection costs and delay its implementation, a new report has warned.
Let’s get a bit of perspective here. What Audit Scotland is talking about are no more than the normal problems that always arise with a major project such as setting up a whole new tax collection system. What matters is how these problems are managed. And there is absolutely no indication that the project is not being managed well.
What is truly disturbing here is the sickening relish with which the British parties at Holyrood pounce on anything that they imagine can be spun to serve their purpose of portraying Scotland as a nation innately unfit to govern itself.
What is also disturbing is the way in which the British media devotes so little space to explaining the situation as it actually is and so much space to the demented imaginings of Iain Gray and Gavin Brown. The reality, of course, is that no systems have failed; nobody has had to “resort to using paper”; and no taxes have gone uncollected. But you wouldn’t know that is you listened to the infantile carping of British politicians whose sole purpose is to denigrate Scotland at every opportunity they can possibly contrive.
See on scotsman.com