DAVID Cameron dealt a blow to devolution hopes today (Thursday, November 20) when he ruled out giving the North tax powers – despite extra freedoms heading to Scotland.

The prime minister’s stance triggered a furious row with MPs and accusations that he believed “the voters of England can’t be trusted” in the same way as the Scots.

During feisty exchanges, Mr Cameron also came under fire for the huge disparity in health spending between the nations, which leaves Scotland with £203 extra for every resident.

Yet he admitted that gap could widen - because of the cross-party decision to keep the controversial Barnett Formula as part of the post-referendum settlement.

On taxes, Labour MP Clive Betts questioned whether devolution pledges carried any weight when they transferred spending powers only, which were “half the story”.

He asked Mr Cameron: “Are you saying the people of England, the voters of England, can’t be trusted with their own taxation as the people of Scotland are going to be trusted?”

And a Conservative MP, Sarah Wollaston, demanded a rethink of the Barnett Formula to ensure equal treatment by the NHS.

She said: “How can it possibly be right that, if you are someone living with heart disease dementia, arthritis or cancer on one side of the border, there is so much less to spend on your healthcare?”

But Mr Cameron said he would not allow town halls to “whack up council tax bills”, or enjoy other tax powers, saying: “My answer to that would be no - we have got enough taxes in our country.”

English council leaders have called for powers ranging from retention of stamp duty and capital gains tax to keeping extra tax revenues from growth and increased borrowing, through municipal bonds.

But the prime minister said the answer to the devolution deficit was to deliver ‘English votes for English laws’ at Westminster, which Labour is opposing.

And, on the Barnett Formula, he insisted it was too difficult to replace and would lessen in impact as more control over taxes was handed to Scotland.

However, Mr Cameron contradicted that stance when he agreed with the top civil servant at the Treasury that Scotland would enjoy future NHS funding boosts: “He’s right, technically.

“The way Barnett works is that, if you decide to spend more money on the health service in England, that has a knock-on Barnett consequential for Scotland and they get extra money.”

But he denied that the Scots raising taxes would force England into spending cuts – to avoid overall spending rising – insisting that would not “cause any problems”.

Mr Cameron also urged critics of the Barnett Formula to recognise there was no “pot of gold” to deliver increased riches across England.