Labour has been accused of using the Barnett formula as an ‘outrageous bribe’ to keep voters north of the border onside, by former local government minister Bob Neill.
His comments in today’s Telegraph come as the Scottish Labour leader, Jim Murphy, claimed the ‘mansion tax’ would use cash from the middle classes in London and the south east to pay for nurses in Scotland.
Speaking in Edinburgh, Mr Murphy said: ‘It's a real win-win for Scotland. If Labour wins the election this May and win again in 2016 we will start recruiting those nurses on day one.’
Mr Neill suggested the comments were proof the Barnett formula was out of date. He said: ‘It sounds as if Labour are quite happy to subsidise services north of the Border and it shows just how unfair the current arrangements are to most people in the UK.
‘That is why this funding issue has to be comprehensively addressed. It is about fair shares. The Barnett formula is measurably out of date. It is discredited and now they are boasting about it insults everyone in the rest of the UK.’
Despite widespread criticism over the funding mechanism, the Government pledged to keep the Barnett formula in the run up to the Scottish referendum in September.
