Devolution is shortchanging England

The English taxpayer is not the primary audience for the Scottish government’s annual Budget, but one wonders what they might make of today’s announcements from SNP finance minister Shona Robison. An extra £2 billion for health and social care, bumping the overall cost of that portfolio to just under £22 billion. An additional £800 million for social security benefits and £768 million for affordable housing, taking the total spend on social justice to £8.2 billion. Plus, £1 billion for roads, raising the transport budget to £4 billion; £355 million for two new prisons as part of the £4.2 billion justice and home affairs budget; and a boost of £158 million to the £4.2 nillion education and skills budget. Other goodies include free bus travel for asylum seekers, more breakfast clubs in schools, a tunnel-building programme, £1 billion more for local government, and an above-inflation nine per cent pay bump for public sector workers over the next three years.