VNA, what do you think the SNP would do about the tax on petrol?
They have already introduced a 5p tax relief/subsidy to try and help the Islands.
Obviously under devolution, any Scottish Government has limited room for manoeuvre on this.
But certainly fuel prices, and as such fuel tax, can have a big impact on the economy. Of course it doesn't help that our economy is so heavily dependent on fuel now.
One successful SNP policy, for example, was the RET experiment (
road equivalent tariff) introduced on ferries between the mainland and the outer Hebrides.
My understanding is that large increase in ferry traffic and resultant economic boost for the islands since the introduction of RET has more than made up for the extra subsidy provided for the ferries. So RET stays in place.
So a reduction in fuel charges or fuel duty doesn't automatically equal a reduction in government income.
Of course Tory government policy is tax cuts for the rich, and then hope that that magically, that the rich being richer will mean everybody will be better off, or hang about a minute, do they give a foc anyway.