Danny Alexander

 ( 1972 Births ) 

As part of his role Alexander was given responsibility to implement the recommendations of the Calman Commission which was to give more fiscal powers to the Scottish Parliament, the promise to implement the proposals had formed part of the coalition agreement. See also: Scotland Act 2012

In his first official visit to Scotland in his new capacity Alexander was accompanied by the Prime Minister David Cameron for a series of meetings with the First Minister Alex Salmond. Cameron called for a fresh start in relations between the parliaments in Westminster and Holyrood and committed to appearing every year to answer questions at the Scottish Parliament.

Alexander's tenure as Scottish Secretary was short lived, and just over two weeks from his appointment on 29 May 2010 he was promoted to the role of Chief Secretary to the Treasury following the resignation of David Laws. Michael Moore, MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, replaced Alexander as Secretary of State for Scotland.

Alexander had bought the property, a London flat, in 1999 and, after being elected to parliament for a Scottish constituency in 2005, designated the property as his "second home" while claiming that his first home was now in his constituency. The property was then sold in 2007 for a profit on which he paid no capital gains tax.

As the property was the only one he owned, up until 2006, HM Revenue and Customs rules meant that capital gains tax was not payable as should someone find a buyer for their home within three years the property qualifies for relief from capital as long as the property has been the only or main home at some point. Speaking at the time Alexander said "I have always listed London as my second home on the basis set out in the parliamentary rules as I spent more time in Scotland than I did in London." The Daily Telegraph stated "there is no suggestion that Mr Alexander has actually broken any tax laws".

Following the announcement on the cancellation of projects, Alexander worked closely with the Chancellor George Osborne to produce an emergency budget on 22 June 2010 which announced a series of measures designed to reduce the United Kingdom's budget deficit. Measures included a rise in the rate of VAT from 17.5% to 20% starting in 2011, a rise in Capital gains tax from 18% to 28% and the introduction of a levy on the banks designed to raise £2 billion a year. Defending the budget against allegations that it disproportionately hit the poor hardest, Alexander described it as "fair" and "progressive" saying "this is a Budget that protects the most vulnerable – especially children in poverty and pensioners – while ensuring those with the broadest shoulders take the greatest share of the burden.".

Following the budget, and in the period until the spending review, Alexander found himself at the heart of controversial spending decisions made by the government. A series of leaked letters from cabinet ministers showed that the spending review was causing strain within government departments including within the Department for Work and Pensions when a memo from Osborne to Iain Duncan Smith suggested that deep cuts to the welfare budget had already been agreed, prompting accusations by Labour that the cuts were "vicious" and an attack on the poorest in society. In response Alexander said "I am not going to comment on a leaked letter but what I will say is that with welfare spending making up nearly £200 billion, of course it is something we have to look at in the context of the spending review."

Further controversy came when the Treasury announced that the Ministry of Defence would have to include the £20 billion replacement of Trident within their budget on top of potential cuts of potentially up to 10 and 20%. Secretary of State for Defence Liam Fox later wrote to David Cameron in another leaked letter saying that cuts in defence spending would seriously damage troops' morale. Kenneth Clarke, the Secretary of State for Justice, said that he was "relishing" life back at the centre of government and said that the discussions on the spending review he had with Danny Alexander were "rather informal but quite intense and serious."

On 19 October 2010, the day before the spending review was announced in the House of Commons, Alexander was photographed reading a memo which showed that as a result of the cuts the government would be announcing up to 490,000 public service jobs could be lost. The figure contained within confidential briefing papers came from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

On 20 October 2010, the chancellor George Osborne announced the findings of the review which included the claim from the OBR. Other key points from the review included an average 19% cut in departmental budgets, the desire to eliminate the structural deficit by 2015, £7bn extra in cuts to welfare spending and a move for the retirement age to be increased to 66 for both men and women by 2020. In a letter to Liberal Democrat members Alexander defended the cuts by saying "When we came into office, we inherited an economy that was on the brink. With the largest budget deficit in Europe and no plan for tackling it, Britain faced huge economic risks. These could only be dealt with by a clear plan to deal rapidly with the worst financial position this country has faced for generations."

Despite the scale of the cuts announced Alexander, in his letter, went on to claim that the burden had been spread fairly by ensuring that key public services relied on by the most vulnerable in society had been protected. He emphasised the announcement of the 'fairness premium' designed to help the poorest children and noted that key transport projects had been given the go ahead as well as the announcement of a green investment bank.