The mini-Budget is a constitutional gamble, too

The economic risks of the chancellor’s tax cuts are evident but they also leave the Scottish government with a dilemma, writes Alastair Jamieson

Kwasi Kwarteng’s raft of historic tax cuts received a hostile reception from economists (PA)

As the dust settles from Kwasi Kwarteng’s explosive “fiscal event”, the wider political implications are starting to become clear.

Large elements of the mini-Budget will not apply in Scotland, particularly in relation to income-tax cuts. While the rest of the UK will see the removal of the additional 45 per cent rate on earnings above £150,000 – bringing the tax payable by those in that bracket into line with the 40 per cent rate applicable to incomes above £50,271 – the top rate in Scotland remains.

This was already divergent, at 46 per cent in Scotland compared with 45 per cent in the rest of the UK, and Scotland already had a lower starter rate of 19 per cent, so the chancellor’s cut does not apply to that bracket, either.