Policies to cut taxes for hard-pressed Scots and grow the economy lie at the heart of the Scottish Conservative manifesto which will be published today (Tuesday).
Leader Russell Findlay says his party is committed to lowering bills for individuals and businesses to ease the cost-of-living crisis, fuel prosperity and end two decades of failure under the SNP.
The Scottish Conservatives would cut income tax by raising the point at which workers start paying, creating one lower rate of 19% and ending the freeze on the higher-rate threshold which has dragged middle earners into paying more.
The tax cuts will be paid for by the party’s pledge to rein in the SNP’s £7 billion benefits bill and cut government bureaucracy.
The “comprehensive, costed and credible” manifesto, which Findlay will launch with a speech in Edinburgh, is the most detailed ever produced by the Scottish Conservatives.
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay is expected to say: “We need to get Scotland working after almost two dismal decades of SNP incompetence, failure and scandal.
“Things do not have to be this bad. The mess that Scotland is in is the result of the wrong political choices made by SNP administrations.
“Our manifesto shows there can be a different way – a brighter, more prosperous way for everyone.
“A lower-tax Scotland, where people can keep and spend more of the money they graft for.
“A booming Scotland, where businesses can thrive.
“A functioning Scotland, generating the revenue we need to create infrastructure and public services fit for the 21st Century.
“That is our Conservative way.
“This manifesto is our most detailed plan ever for making that vision a reality. It is comprehensive, costed and credible.
“John Swinney has been crystal clear that he will use an SNP majority to press ahead with his plan to hold a second, unwanted, divisive referendum on breaking up our country.
“We cannot allow him to plunge the next parliament into constitutional chaos.
“We cannot allow any distraction from the issues that matter most to people: helping with the cost-of-living crisis, growing the economy and fixing our broken public services.
“Every vote for the Scottish Conservatives on the peach-coloured ballot paper will take us a step closer to stopping the SNP.”
Notes to editors
In the first two weeks of the campaign, the Scottish Conservatives have unveiled a range of manifesto commitments in different policy areas. These include:
Cost of living: save working families up to £12,000 per year by cutting income tax, reducing energy bills, dramatically expanding pre-school childcare provision and using the government’s annual budget underspend to give a dividend to council tax payers.
Economic growth: Subject every new government policy to a ‘growth test’ to see whether it would benefit the economy; exit Nicola Sturgeon’s ‘Wellbeing Economy Alliance’.
Business: Permanently reduce taxes for businesses by lowering business rates and restructuring the system to end cliff-edge rises; placing a cap on the maximum rates rise during revaluation; cutting red tape.
Justice: introduce legislation to allow Scotland to send prisoners abroad, to prevent the need for the early release of inmates being used by the SNP.
Education: raise school standards by bringing back the Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy, protecting traditional exam-based learning, increasing school inspections and funding 1,000 extra classroom assistants.
Health: Increase NHS funding above inflation in every year of the next Scottish Parliament and bring back recently retired doctors and nurses to deliver procedures.
Housing: abolish Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) on primary residences and build 80,000 affordable homes over the lifetime of the next Scottish Parliament.