UK NEWS

ENGLISH PAY UP SO SCOTS CAN GET CHEAP MEDICINE

UNFAIR: Charges north of the border have been reduced

Wednesday April 2,2008

By Alison Little, Deputy Political Editor

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(36)

ENGLISH taxpayers are seeing more of their hard-earned cash lavished on Scotland – thanks to Labour’s “health apartheid.”

Prescription charges north of the border were reduced by £1.85 to £5 yesterday but soared by 25p – an above inflation rise – from £6.85 to £7.10 in England.

The widening gap provoked new accusations of growing injustice as a result of Labour’s controversial devolution policies.

Critics were outraged that Treasury cash raised in England will be used to bankroll the cheaper charges for vital medicines in Scotland.

Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “This story is all too familiar. English taxpayers are being hammered yet again while their taxes make things cheaper in Scotland.

“People in England are sick of being taken advantage of. They want fair treatment.” The Scottish National Party aims to abolish the prescription charge north of the border by 2011.

Scots suffering with chronic conditions and cancer will benefit from an immediate 51 per cent cut in the cost of prescription pre-payment certificates which cover all their medication. They go down from £98.70 to £48 for a year.

Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “Prescription charges are a tax on ill-health and a barrier to good health for too many people.”

The changes come on top of other differences in what English and Scottish people pay for services. In Scotland this year’s council tax is frozen at last year’s rate and the graduates’ endowment scheme is being scrapped.

In England council-tax payers see inflation-busting rises and students have to pay university tuition fees. Personal and nursing care as well as eye tests are also free in Scotland.

Labour MP Graham Stringer commented: “The difference in prescription charges is yet another example of the completely unfair funding system. Extra money is allocated to Scotland for no reason whatever.

“The Scots are enabled to reduce charges because they have so much more money per head of the population than the English.”

In Northern Ireland the prescription charge is being frozen. In Wales it was totally scrapped last year.

Mr Brown has ordered a review amid fears of a backlash from English voters.

Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo stressed that 88 per cent of prescriptions are free. But Citizens Advice says 800,000 people in England failed to collect a prescription last year due to the cost.

£11BN

03.04.08, 7:28pm

That £11bn figure was shown to be nonsense over a year ago. It was only the baseline figure for Labour's magically elastic "Scottish Deficit" which snapped back and forward between £2bn and £32bn, depending on how much they wanted to scare the Scottish electorate away from the SNP and the grasp on reality the of the individual making the claim.

By the time of the election, most unbiased economists had agreed that Scotland was actually in surplus to the UK .... much to Labour's chagrin.

What English people tend to overlook when they make claims about who is subsidising who is that the UK as a whole is in Deficit by about £40bn. Scotland is in surplus .... England is in serious deficit (though it gets called Public Sector Borrowing Requirement down there .... Deficit is too negative a word so is reserved for Scotland).

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/features/article2158022.ece

• Posted by: MeBungoPony • Report Comment

AFRAID I DISAGREE FABLE... BUT

03.04.08, 6:13pm

'scots_lad even with your so called resources taken into account the English taxpayer still subsidises the Scots to the tune of £11 BILLION a year. Face it, it's not just the Scots who want Independence. We English want you to go it alone and take GB with you.'

Well theres only one way to see whos right I guess and that would be independence. We may disagree but at least we have a common enemy in GB!

And we will be happy to take GB as long as we can try him for war crimes along with Blair and any other Scottish minister past or present that is responsible for Iraq.

I would also like to remind all the English people here that the people of Scotland are also unhappy with the current arangement. We want the power to raise and spend our own taxes and it seems likely we will get it. Lets turn our anger against the self serving political elite and not each other. Then we can build a relationship of equality instead of a medieval union.

Apologies for the slightly heated post earlier lol.

• Posted by: scots_lad • Report Comment

OMG

03.04.08, 2:45pm

winging poms ? May I remind the idiots that this is a British newspaper hosted by a British host

• Posted by: Fable • Report Comment

THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN DELETED.

03.04.08, 1:06am

****Although this user is making a valid contribution to the forum debate, we will not tolerate foul language or an abusive tone.

Please make your point in a way that will not offend others and clean debate clean and courteous.***

• Posted by: GETREAL • Report Comment

DEVIDED WE FALL UNITED WE STAND

02.04.08, 9:13pm

DO not fall for this north south thing that is what the EU wants if they can split our nation they can control us all The people of Scotland are not to blame if we were told we could have a free health service we would take it. This is a very private battle between Alex and Gordon

• Posted by: retiredmale • Report Comment