CLACKMANNANSHIRE’S Westminster hopefuls have again traded blows this week as the issue of full fiscal autonomy continues to cloud next month’s General Election.

The issue is based on whether Scotland should be allowed to raise and spend its own taxes in a system said to make Holyrood as finanically independent as it can be without the country leaving the UK.

In a nutshell, Scotland would fund its own public services without any support from London; however, some money would still be sent down south to support shared UK services.

Advocates of the plan say the move would allow Scotland to prosper economically while addressing welfare needs at the same time.

However, its critics say opting for full fiscal autonomy would mean Scotland would lose an estimated £7.6 billion and would have to cover the defecit by raising taxes.

The issue will be just one of the many on the minds of voters when the polls open on 7 May.

SNP candidate Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh says the increased finanical controls would give Holyrood the powers to improve the lives of those north of the border.

She said: “We believe that Scotland is a prosperous country – our proposition is that it will be in an even stronger position if we gain the greater powers that we need to grow our economy faster, create more jobs and boost our revenues.

“In each of the last 34 years, tax revenue per person in Scotland was higher than the rest of the UK. In fact, growth in Scottish tax receipts is expected to be £15 billion by 2020.

“We want to see the Scottish Parliament have as many of the powers we need to grow our economy, deliver a proper welfare system and tackle inequality that we can.

“Full fiscal autonomy would not only give us responsibility for taxation in Scotland, it would allow us to take decisions like increasing the minimum wage, make work fair and protect the vulnerable through the welfare system.” Labour candidate Gordon Banks said full fiscal autonomy would be of ‘serious consequence’ for Scotland’s finances.

The incumbent believes the best way forward is to retain the Barnett Formula — a complicated system which dictates how much Scotland receives from the combined UK budget.

He said: “I support the belief of those, including the STUC, who agree that the best funding arrangement for Scotland involves the devolution of tax power as committed through the Smith Commission and the retention of the Barnett formula.

“It would be of serious consequence to put this at risk whilst also preventing Labour’s Compulsory Jobs Guarantee from helping young Scots into a job and stopping the Mansion Tax from providing the revenue for 1000 new nurses for our NHS.

“Labour has a clear plan to address the challenges we now face by taxing bankers’ bonuses, introducing the Mansion Tax, creating a 50p top rate of tax for people earning £150,000+ per year, whilst introducing a reduced 10p starting rate of tax.

“Additionally, increasing the minimum wage to over £8 per hour, ending exploitative zero hour contracts and freezing energy prices will ease the stress on many household budgets.” Meanwhile, the Conservative candidate Luke Graham warned that the SNP’s plans would be a pre-cursor for another referendum.

He said: “FFA would damage job opportunites, investment and undermine the increase in real wages which are just starting to benefit people in Ochil & South Perthshire.

“The SNP believes FFA will help strengthen its case for future separation and, of course, it has not ruled out putting a second referendum in its 2016 manifesto.

“The Scottish Conservatives strongly oppose FFA because it will have a very significant negative impact on revenues which are required to finance public spending. FFA would mean far less spending for schools, hospitals and transport.” He added: “The majority of people in Scotland, including in Clackmannanshire, voted to stay in the United Kingdom so we could share the financial benefits and limit economic risk.

Examples of this shared benefit were the £1.3bn in relief provided for North Sea Oil and the funding of a new Scottish Air Ambulance, both of which were provided for in the British 2015 budget.

The Liberal Democrats’ candidate, Dr Iliyan Stefanov, put forward the point that if full fiscal autonomy was granted Scotland could find itself in a financial crisis akin to that in the Euro Zone.

He said: “Full fiscal autonomy may tempt Scotland into a future financial crisis one day.

“Should this happen, and I do not want it ever to happen, Scotland could only be saved by a UK financial intervention.

“In a strange way, if and should this happen, Independence then becomes meaningless as the country will be financially owned by the rest of UK.

He added: “The possible aims of this plan could be either enabling Scottish Government to serve its people better or a step towards independence.

“As Scotland gave a clear ‘No’ last September, I shall assume that full fiscal autonomy has been proposed to aid the government and not to ‘correct’ the public vote as it were.”