‘Rights & responsibilities’ with Scottish devolution

Scotland is to be given the power to borrow more, issue its own bonds and raise taxes, as part of what is being called the greatest transfer of financial power between London and Edinburgh in 300 years.

The Scotland Bill will see a partial devolution of control over various fiscal matters, as well as giving the Scottish government the ability to issue and guarantee its own bonds, dubbed 'Braveheart bonds' by the media.

Scotland will also be allowed to raise an extra £12bn for public spending through tax increases, boosting the £30bn it already controls. Its borrowing limit will be put up from £500m to £2.2bn, but with a limit on capital borrowing of £230m a year.

George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, said that "devolution brings rights, but also responsibilities".

Read a full report at the Daily Telegraph. ·