...obfuscate, prestidigitate, bloviate...

The Daily Telegraph has received leaked information on the SNP's Local Income Tax policy that indicates that there is a £360-£400 million gap in what they say can be raised by a 3p levy and what the SNP's own Chief Economic Adviser says will be raised. The gap increases to £740-£770 million if the Westminster Government does not divert the money spent on Council Tax Benefit towards the LIT.

The document contains analysis from the Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the Scottish government. It projects that around £2.2bn would be raised by council tax in this financial year, while local income tax at the 3p rate would raise between £1.46bn and £1.49bn, showing that the shortfall would sit between £366m and £396m if UK ministers gave Holyrood the £374m paid out in council tax benefit in Scotland. However, without this, the shortfall would increase to between £740m and £770m.

The Daily Telegraph has been trying to get the report released under an FOI Request, but the SNP has used public money to block the release in court, on the pretext that civil service advice must be secret in all cases.

Strangely enough, during the Iraq Inquiry, Alex Salmond demanded that such "secret" information from civil servants should be released "in the public interest".

Anyway, it's all part of the pattern: the SNP thinks up a super wheeze...LIT, SFT, abolish PPP, abolish Student debt.. whatever, it gets a few votes.

But in power, the chickens come home to roost... no policy exists behind the promise. So. Bluster, obfuscate, prestidigitate, bloviate. And spend public money to hide your embarrassment.

Surely the Scottish public will be intelligent enough to see through this nonsensical do-nothing party and government on May 5th...?

p.s.1 ... the Telegraph online had no copy of the doc, but you can see it here, at Nationalist Mythbusting... it's clear enough, the Nats have not put any thought into how they would have (but will not now) deliver yet another major promise, and now they want to hide the evidence

p.s. 2.... Must hat-tip Lalland Peat Worrier for the excellent "bloviate", a word coined 100 years ago that has been waiting around to meet up with and describe the pompous windbaggery of our esteemed Fat First Minister......