Highest taxes in UK but still £1billion worse off...

... as nation trapped in SNP 'doom loop'

- BY DAVID WALKER Scottish Politics Reporter

SCOTLAND is £1billion worse off than it should be despite the SNP forcing hardworking Scots to fork out more income tax than people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

John Swinney’s “incompetence” has been blamed for the massive financial black hole and sluggish economic growth, with the country trapped in a nationalist “doom loop”.

Audit Scotland released a damning report last night which revealed that lower wage growth than the rest of the UK has massively reduced the benefit of higher taxes to the Scottish budget.

Anyone earning more than £30,000 pays more income tax if they live in Scotland, with this increasing incrementally.

As a result, the Scottish Government should have netted £1.7bn more to spend on public services but due to the economy lagging behind the UK's, only £616million extra has been raised so far.