COALITION VAT BILL COULD COST NHS £23 MILLION

COALITION VAT BILL COULD COST NHS £23 MILLION

A Parliamentary Question (PQ) released today has revealed the damaging
consequences Tory-Liberal coalition plans to increase VAT to 20% would
have on the NHS in Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon’s answer to former GP Ian McKee MSP reveals that the UK
coalition could place a burden of £26 million on the NHS in Scotland
through increased VAT payments with over £23 million directly affecting
Health Boards.

Lothians SNP MSP Dr Ian McKee said:

“£23 million is huge chunk of Health Board budgets and this is the last
thing the NHS needs.

“With resources getting tighter in coming years, increasing taxes paid by
the NHS and other public bodies to the Treasury seems ridiculous.

“It may be slightly less than the £36 million Labour planned to take from
the NHS in National Insurance, but it is still an unacceptable cost at a
difficult time. There is simply no sense in taking money from public
services to put back into the Treasury’s coffers.

"Increasing VAT will put a strain on our public services at a time when
they need support more than ever.

“The SNP Government will do everything in our power to protect frontline
public services and NHS jobs and I challenge the new coalition’s Holyrood
colleagues and the Labour opposition to join with the SNP in opposing what
would be a drastic attack on NHS spending at a crucial time.”