By a Newsnet reporter
The SNP has responded to reports suggesting the UK government is considering devolving the power to scrap the Bedroom Tax by insisting that only a Yes vote in next year’s referendum will guarantee its removal.
According to the Scotland on Sunday newspaper, the UK coalition is considering transferring power to Holyrood that would allow the Scottish Parliament to scrap the controversial legislation.
According to the newspaper, “Ministers in David Cameron’s government are believed to be increasingly concerned about how the bedroom tax has become a toxic issue for the coalition.”
It quotes a UK government source as saying: “It is difficult to see how welfare could be devolved, but housing benefit is a possibility given the issues that have been raised about it recently.”
However the SNP has dismissed the possibility of significant powers being devolved by any Westminster government in the event of a No vote and highlighted similar promises previously given to the Scottish people that were subsequently broken.
Commenting, SNP MSP Linda Fabiani, a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Welfare Reform Committee, said:
“History tells us that promises for better devolution and more powers in return for a No vote are quickly broken by Westminster – which is why a Yes vote next September is vital.
“If people in the No campaign think it’s good for Scotland to have such powers, then they should vote Yes and get them.
“A No vote is a vote for no more powers. All Scotland got after the 1979 referendum was 18 years of Tory Government we didn’t vote for.
“Only a Yes vote in next year’s referendum puts Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands, and will give us control over the social security system so that we can get rid of the iniquitous Bedroom Tax, and have a welfare state that reflects the views and votes of people in Scotland.”