Scot free?

Last Modified: 14 Nov 2007
By: Cathy Newman

The Scottish Nationalists are hoping this could be the beginning of the end of the 300-year Union between England and Scotland.

Scotland's new government has unveiled its first budget , after the First Minister set a target date of 2017 for independence.

The Scottish Finance Secretary John Swinney said that "key pledges" would be met, but the government couldn't honour every manifesto commitment.

There will be a council tax freeze - and a reduction in business rates for small firms. But there won't be money for writing off student debt and the pledge to employ a thousand "new" police officers will be watered down.

Budgeting for a future where Scotland goes it alone, the Scottish finance secretary John Swinney was as generous as he could afford to be, within what the Nationalists see as the constraints of the union.

Today was the SNP's first budget in the party's 73 year history. But although the first minister was paying close attention while his colleague set out spending plans for the next three years, he no doubt had his eyes fixed on a more distant horizon - independence for Scotland within a decade.

You can still get stung by a traffic warden in Scotland but today's budget might give you some spare cash to pay the fines. The SNP administration struck a deal with local authorities to freeze council tax bills.

Today was the SNP's first budget in the party's 73 year history.

And business rates will be reduced or scrapped for 150,000 small companies.

The first minister Alex Salmond thinks Scotland's economy can be a Celtic lion. He's made plain he can't meet ambitious targets for economic growth without independence, but today his government used the powers it already has to stimulate enterprise by cutting taxes.

The treats handed out by the Nationalists today are intended simply as an appetiser, with the main course to follow if the SNP achieves its dream of independence. There's no doubt the 300-year-old union between the two countries is under strain and today's budget isn't going to make the relationship any more harmonious.

Because if the SNP's goodies do succeed in tempting the Scots to sever their links with the English, they might also make the English question what they're getting out of the Union.

The SNP is accused by its opponents of being so fixated on independence that it's incapable of running a government. High-profile manifesto pledges made by the party in opposition have been watered down now its won power.

It's rag week in Edinburgh, university students are raising money for charity, but they might need a bit of charity of their own after today's budget announcement that the government won't immediately write off their debt as had been promised.

And there's been some back-pedalling on plans to recruit 1000 new police officers. In fact, there's only money initially for 500. The remaining 500 will only be hired if officers set to retire can be persuaded to stay and others are redeployed from desk duties.

The SNP says its plans fell flat because of a lower than expected spending allocation from the Westminster government. So will voters buy that excuse?