Slash taxes in Scotland to attract ‘the next Google’, Humza Yousaf told

One of Scotland’s richest men has urged Humza Yousaf to copy Ireland’s low tax system to spur growth north of the English border.

Sir Tom Hunter called on the SNP to make Scotland a 15pc corporate tax zone for high-growth sectors such as renewable energy, life sciences and artificial intelligence.

He said: “We’ve got to set out where the next growth sectors are, so that we can get the next Apple, the next Google in Scotland.”

Sir Tom, who sold his sports retailing business for £290m in the late 1990s, said slashing taxes for select sectors was the right approach.

He added: “Corporation tax is one piece of that jigsaw. These companies could go anywhere so we’ve got to give them a low-rate tax regime, a highly skilled and motivated workforce and regulation that fits in with them. All of these things are what Ireland did.”

The entrepreneur and philanthropist made the recommendations in a new report commissioned by his foundation and undertaken by Oxford Economics.

Sir Tom said he was “apolitical” and criticised the SNP. He said: “We’ve had 15 years of SNP government. I don’t think they’ve proved that they are competent.”

The 62-year-old has previously been highly critical of the SNP’s record on the economy, saying earlier this year that Scotland was seen as “not investable”.

The SNP has been mired in controversy since former leader Nicola Sturgeon was arrested following claims that £600,000 of donations towards the independence campaign had been misappropriated.

Sir Tom said that there had been some improvement under Mr Yousaf, who took over from Ms Sturgeon, but it was too early to judge his performance.

He said: “Our previous First Minister didn’t really engage with business to the detriment of Scotland. Frankly, the new First Minister is at least listening to business. He’s making himself available.”

The Institute for Fiscal Studies last week warned that Scotland’s deficit is far larger relative to the size of its economy than that of the UK, at 9pc compared with 5.2pc.

The think tank said that if Scotland were to become independent it would need even larger spending cuts or tax rises than the rest of the UK over the coming decades.

The only way around this would be through a significant boost in oil and gas revenues or faster growth in its onshore economy.