The man who wants to impose a car park tax on workers across Scotland has “failed miserably” to provide any detail on the controversial plan.
Finance secretary Derek Mackay was quizzed by opposition parties in Holyrood today following last week’s announcement.
He wants every worker in Scotland who takes their car to work to incur a tax which could amount to more than £400 a year.
However, when asked to go into detail about the scheme at the Finance Committee, he was unable to do so.
He also admitted no economic analysis had been undertaken, despite him making the idea a central part of the budget process.
It comes as SNP MSP Joan McAlpine voiced her own opposition to the levy, saying that she didn’t want to see it in council areas in her South Scotland region.
And the Scottish Conservatives have confirmed they will resist any moves to have the tax shoehorned into legislation through the upcoming Transport (Scotland) Bill.
Mr Mackay said today he couldn’t go into any detail because the plans are “at an early stage”, before declaring: “No, I haven’t undertaken any individual economic analysis.”
It follows Ms McAlpine’s confession to ITV Border: “I wouldn’t imagine it would be enacted in the south of Scotland to be perfectly honest with you.”
Scottish Conservative shadow finance secretary Murdo Fraser said:
“This is a tax imposed by Derek Mackay, yet he couldn’t answer any of the key questions surrounding it.
“He failed miserably to give workers and businesses the detail they are asking for, and even admitted he’d barely given the matter any thought before including it in his budget.
“This tax is already falling apart, which is no surprise from an idea concocted by the Greens and the SNP.
“Already some SNP MSPs are distancing themselves from it because they can see how utterly unfair and unworkable it is.
“Joan McAlpine even has the nerve to suggest it will impact everywhere except in the places she hopes people will vote for her.
“Nicola Sturgeon should ditch this scheme now, and start taking her budget leads from those who know, not the extremists in the Green Party.”
