The cost of Scottish devolution to taxpayers in the rest of Britain was underlined again yesterday when the new Nationalist administration at Holyrood confirmed that it intended to scrap prescription charges for the chronically ill north of the Border.

The move, which is due to be introduced as early as next April, would mean that those with chronic conditions such as asthma or cancer would no longer have to pay the £6.85 charge for a prescription. Sufferers in England would continue to pay.

The SNP Executive in Edinburgh said that the abolition of the charges would be the first step towards phasing out all prescription payments in Scotland at a cost of £50 million – as has happened in Wales.

The cash will come out of the £30 billion annual block grant to the Scottish Parliament from Westminster, which includes payments made under the Barnett Formula – the mechanism which ensures that Scotland receives a proportion of all new public spending in England.

The SNP also announced this week that it would scrap the Scottish graduate tuition one-off payment of £2,300, effectively ensuring that domiciled Scots students no longer had to pay towards their university tuition when they graduated.

The abolition of the Scottish payment will cost the Executive about £15 million. English students studying at Scottish universities will continue to pay £1,700 a year in fees.

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, a Conservative peer and a former Secretary of State for Scotland before devolution, accused the SNP of introducing spending policies aimed at irritating the English.

“The SNP are trying to provoke outrage in England in order to try and fracture the Union,” he said.

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