What is Holyrood For? "What is Cardiff Bay For?

There was one of the most important Blogs on what we can expect from Devolution on the Scottish Blog Bella Caledonia

Entitled "What is Holyrood For" it pointed out that those who believe that they can isolate themselves from the Harsh Winter coming from a Tory run Westminster are living with false hope and has a equally disturbing  future here in Wales

Kimbereley Carden writes

One positive to take out of the last few days – and indeed it’s been a deeply disappointing few days, culminating in Ruth Davidson telling women who have had children as a result of rape not only that they don’t deserve dignity, privacy or compassion, but that their suffering is just a political football to her and nothing more – is the penny finally dropping that the Scottish government cannot be expected to mitigate Tory cuts. This is not the same as to say that the government shouldn’t try to do so where they reasonably can – and indeed the SNP government is already spending £400 million per year mitigating Tory welfare cuts in Scotland. But it is to say that the Scottish government – and whichever party/parties constitute this – cannot be expected to and -indeed mustn’t be.
The reason for this is two-fold: firstly having the competence doesn’t equate to having the capability. The cuts the Tories are making to tax credits and disability benefits alone are huge. It would be impossible for the Scottish government – with a fixed block grant and minimal tax raising powers – to raise and move cash to cover our share of the welfare cuts that we’re told are saving the UK treasury £12 billion, without this being hugely detrimental to Scotland.
We are in a situation where the block grant has already been massively cut as a result of UK spending cuts and this in turn is leading to a diminishing budget for Scotland: Since 2010 there has been a real terms cut in funding to the Scottish parliament of £2.9 billion and the Fraser of Allander Institute has said that we are looking at another £800 million to £1.6 billion in real terms cuts by 2020. Add to this that the Scottish government’s tax changes don’t even bring in enough to cover what they are already spending annually on mitigating welfare cuts and we begin to see the issue.

I wrote at the time that the issues for Tax Raising powers was a Trojan Horse designed to force a already underfunded Welsh Government 

It is a tactic based on the argument

"You don't want these cuts , then You raise Taxes to pay for it".

It is exemplified toby Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson reaction her who has been under attack from the SNP and Labour over the issue, “rape clause” introduced by the UK Government’s child tax credit reforms.

 The Tory leader said the Scottish Parliament has the power to create a new Scottish-only benefit, following the passage of the Scotland Act, and called on the SNP and Scottish Labour to set out their position.

She added: 

“We support the exemptions which the UK Government has put in place on restrictions to child tax credits, and we want to see the UK Government implement them in the most compassionate way possible. That work is on-going.“The SNP has said it opposes the two-child policy on tax credits, so it now has a choice to make.“At Holyrood, we now have the power to create new benefits. So the Scottish Government could, if it wanted, propose a new benefit to provide funding for families with more than two children.“Of course this would have to be paid for, but if the SNP Government believes this to be of such importance, then it can act.

I suppose such arguments could be valid except that the Tories  are using the attack on the welfare state to pay for Tax cuts for their  well off backers.

Neither Wales or Scotland can decide not to contribute to the billions that will be spent on Trident  and other Westminster projects that are of no benefit to us.

Basically Westminster is saying we are going to destroy the welfare state in England in order to keep our rich backers happy and to preserve the myth that the UK is a world power. You have the right and maybe the powers to pay for it but we are reducing the base income that you already receive.

We can then claim that your people are the most highly taxed in the UK and with the support of the Unionist Media see our Branch Offices in Hollyrood and Cardiff Bay winning power.

Ending the whole devolution project and having a Union that is not only unbreakable but where the Tories are in power for ever apart from the occasional Blue-Labour government whose policies will be almost identical.

The only solution is not further devolution  which the Tories can exploit "You want it , You pay for it scenario"

The only way for Wales and Scotland to escape the clutches of Cold , Callous Toryism is Independence/