Support for Scottish tax campaign
A campaign group calling for Holyrood to be given responsibility for raising the money it spends has attracted an 'encouraging rush of support'.
The Campaign for Fiscal Responsibility said former STUC general secretary Campbell Christie was among the first to pledge his support.
Aberdeen Asset Management chief executive Martin Gilbert and historian Michael Fry also gave their backing.
It calls for the control of most current taxes to be devolved.
The campaign's declaration was launched on Thursday by Scotland's richest man, Jim McColl, and Ben Thomson, chairman of the think-tank Reform Scotland.
It states that: "A Scottish Parliament with far greater responsibility for raising the money it spends would lead to better government in Scotland.
"It would make politicians more accountable for the financial decisions they take while giving them both the incentive and the fiscal tools necessary to achieve improved public services and faster economic growth - vital in the current economic circumstances."
Others to back the campaign include: Keith Falconer, chairman of Impax and Adelphi Whisky Company; award-winning architect Malcolm Fraser; Rod Cross, emeritus professor of economics at Strathclyde University; and Mark Shaw, chief executive of the Hazledene Group.
Dr Christie, who is now chairman of the Raploch Urban Regeneration Company in Stirling, said: "If we are to address the problems that will arise from the public expenditure attacks, it is vital that we have these additional powers available to us in Scotland.
"That is why I support this campaign because it will ensure that dealing with these challenges lies in our own hands."