Hunter: SNP should look to low tax Singapore for inspiration
In a new report, the billionaire suggests the Scottish Government should 'take the best' from low-tax Singapore's fiscal policies to help improve the country's economic prospects.
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The Hunter Foundation paper contrasts Scotland's top tax rate of 48% with Singapore's 24%.
It also notes that firms have reported increasing difficulty in attracting skilled staff to Scotland, with recruiters asking for a 'Scottish weighting' in salaries to offset higher income tax.
The philanthropist told BBC Scotland's Sunday Show that a long-term economic strategy, simpler planning rules and a clearer housing policy could help unlock hundreds of millions in stalled investment.
'If this was a business, which is my background, I would be looking to see where my competitors are doing better,' he said.
'We got Oxford Economics to do a piece on Ireland, lessons that Scotland could learn. I was completely ignored. But I have not given up. We have now done it on Singapore.'
'Why we look to these places like Singapore or like Ireland is, over the past 60 years in Singapore, 40 years in Ireland, they have grown their economy from a place of real difficulty, and they have had long-term leadership — leadership — and they have plotted out their growth.
"Now Singapore has one of the best GDPs per capita in the world.
'And I would argue the people in Singapore have a great health service, they have a great housing stock, and they have one of the best education systems in the world.'
Scotland, he argued, has not had the same clarity of purpose — particularly under Nicola Sturgeon's administration.
'Scotland has not been a pro-business-friendly country for the past 10 years. That was to the detriment of Scotland, and that is why I say we are in managed decline.'
Sir Tom said leadership — and attracting the best people into political roles — was essential.
'If I juxtapose the Prime Minister of Singapore is paid $2.2 million per year, we pay our First Minister to do the hardest job in Scotland, £165,000.
'The countries with the best talent win. Do we have the best talent running our country?
'I would say we could do better,' he added. 'And money is one part of that. It is not the only answer, but we need to encourage better people into politics. The hardest job in this country is running the country. Can we get the best people doing it?
'The second hardest job is running the NHS. Can we get the best people doing this? The second point to learn from Singapore is really quite simple. Let us be pro-business. Let us go back to basics.
'It is very simple in that — how does government pay for civil society? How do we pay for our NHS or education, the civil society that we all want?
'Well, frankly, government sets a tax regime to raise tax from you and me and business, and they decide how to spend it.
'My proposition is that Scotland has not been a pro-business-friendly country for the past 10 years. Let us say it is getting better under John Swinney and Kate Forbes, but under Nicola Sturgeon it was not business-friendly, and that was to the detriment of Scotland, and that is why I say managed decline.'
'Let government sit with business and produce their business policies with business, not to business,' he added.
On housing, Sir Tom said confused rent controls and unclear strategies were deterring investors.
'There is hundreds of millions of pounds sitting on the sidelines, not coming to Scotland because they go: 'I am not quite sure what the Scottish Government's housing policy is. Rent cap? No rent cap? What is it? We will just go to Manchester.''
He also criticised Scotland's slow planning system. 'How long does it take to get planning for a warehouse? Singapore: 35 days. Scotland: five times as long.'
The Hunter Foundation paper contrasts Scotland's top tax rate of 48% with Singapore's 24%.
On tax, Sir Tom said the focus should be on growing the overall tax take, not simply the tax rate — and warned that punitive policies were driving wealthy individuals and their capital out of the UK.
'Capital is portable,' he said. 'If you have got somebody like Lakshmi Mittal, the steel magnate, leaving Britain — his tax pays for about 90,000 people's benefits. Who pays for them now?'
Asked whether his ideas amounted to a case for independence, Sir Tom said the economic case was not yet strong enough.
'If independence is just more of the same, then the whole of Scotland will be poorer. That is not my opinion — that is a fact.
'But if we could get a low-tax economy, what I am asking is to do it within the UK, and to say to Keir Starmer: let us make Scotland an enterprise zone and the green capital of the world.'
Sir Tom said the business community remained ready to support change — if the government was willing to listen.
'Every single one of them is saying, Tom, we are willing to help. So is the government listening? If the phone does not ring, I will know it is the government.'
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Appearing on the programme shortly afterwards, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said she welcomed Sir Tom's report.
'There will be some areas where we will disagree on aspects, but I am sure within this report, which I have not had the opportunity to read in full as yet, there will be areas that we can be agreed on.
'But I think what Sir Tom does raise is there is something inherently challenging in the system that Scotland, the UK, finds itself in at the moment, and we need to rise to that occasion.
'That is exactly what the First Minister is doing and going forward, particularly with his working with business to see what more needs to be done to encourage investment. The First Minister and Deputy First Minister are doing an incredible amount of work because they recognise we need to listen to people like Sir Tom and others who want to bring investment into the country, and to have an area where we can flourish.'
Responding to the comments, Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for business, economy, tourism and culture Murdo Fraser said: 'Sir Tom Hunter's assessment of the SNP government's failure is utterly damning. He says that their policies have been anti-business and anti-growth, that they have ignored Scottish companies, and that Scots' incomes and essential services have been badly damaged as a result.
'Without economic growth, we will never reverse the SNP's disastrous policies and improve living standards, provide jobs and fund essential services.
'Labour's National Insurance jobs tax is another attack on firms, so Scots are being hammered by the policies of two left-wing governments. The Scottish Conservatives are the only party challenging the high taxes and wasteful spending of both Labour and the SNP, and arguing for policies that will allow businesses and the economy to thrive.'
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And trans people are constantly maligned currently by some parts of the media. So Pride events are needed as much now as ever. They are a celebration of how far we have come in the 30 years since the first Pride Scotland, and they are a protest against the regression we're seeing now. One day perhaps Pride will be solely a celebration, but that day still seems some way off. Meanwhile people join together in the streets to say "Not going back". Tim Hopkins, Edinburgh.
