SNP accused of trying to ‘deceive’ Scots into independence with manifesto giveaways

Nicola Sturgeon checks the teeth of 'Dentosaurus' during a visit to the Thornliebank Dental Care centre in Glasgow during the election campaign - Jane Barlow/PA
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Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of trying to con Scots into backing a new independence referendum with a series of unaffordable election giveaways. ” ’

The Scottish Tories claimed that the Scottish budget would need to at least double if all of the policies and aspirations included in the SNP manifesto were to be implemented.

The spending splurge promised by Ms Sturgeon includes free bikes for poorer children, an end to NHS dentistry charges, free bus travel for young people and a laptop or tablet for every school pupil.

The respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has raised a series of doubts about the affordability of the party’s manifesto commitments, warning that “tricky trade-offs” would be required.

The impartial analysis by the thinktank found that Nicola Sturgeon’s array of spending promises would have a "significant net cost”, and said it was “disappointing” that the manifesto does not provide information about what the “significant pledges” would cost.

Separate costings by the Scottish Conservatives found that the SNP’s spending plans totalled £95 billion in a single year, although that figure includes policies that the nationalists have accepted could not be delivered with Holyrood's existing powers.

Independence would leave Scotland worse off
Independence would leave Scotland worse off

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Tory leader, claimed Ms Sturgeon was attempting to lure the public with giveaways only to claim their votes as support for another referendum after the election.

“This is the SNP’s White Paper for independence all over again,” he said. “Nicola Sturgeon is trying to deceive voters into supporting another referendum.

“Her plans for independence relied on fantasy economics and this analysis shows that the SNP’s 2021 manifesto is just as misleading.”

Accusing the SNP of “rejecting scrutiny at every turn”, he added: “It’s clear the SNP manifesto is not remotely credible. It’s a fantasy wish list in pursuit of another referendum.”

The Tories costings included policies such as a Universal Basic Income, which could cost £58 billion per year, and the four-day week proposal, would cost taxpayers more than £3 billion per year.

While mentioned as longer term aspirations in the SNP manifesto, the party has not pledged to implement them within the next five years.

However, manifesto pledges which the SNP has promised to implement include expanding free childcare to one and two-year-olds, year round free breakfasts and lunches for all primary-aged school children, doubling the Scottish Child Payment, abolishing charges for non-residential social care and exempting 18-21-year-olds from paying council tax.

At the same time the SNP has said it will not increase income taxes. Ms Sturgeon has insisted her manifesto can be paid for by an estimated 14 per cent rise in the block grant from Westminster over five years and a projected 20 per cent growth in tax revenues.

Ms Sturgeon also expanded on her commitment to scrap all dental charges.

Currently, around £75m is spent by Scots every year at NHS dentists, although the policy cost is likely to initially increase to around £100m, initially as it is likely to lead to a surge in demand from people who have put off treatment.

Although there are already exemptions in place so that the poorest are not charged for dental treatment, the SNP leader said charges remained “a barrier for too many people”.

The British Dental Association said it was ready to work with a future SNP government to deliver the changes, but pointed out that the budget for dentistry had been cut in real terms in three of the past four years by the SNP.

David McColl, chair of the British Dental Association's Scottish Dental Practice Committee, said: “These are big plans to bring down barriers to care and improve access, but they must go hand in hand with needed investment if services millions depend on are going to remain sustainable”.

Responding to the Tory claims on costings, Kate Forbes, the SNP’s Finance Secretary and candidate for Candidate for Skye, Lochaber & Badenoch, said: “This is desperate nonsense from the failing Tory campaign. They are clearly spooked by the bold plans the SNP has put forward and are resorting to simply making things up. I hope they are better at basic arithmetic when it comes to costing their own manifesto than they are in trying to cost ours.

“The SNP has set out an ambitious, but affordable, package of progressive policies that will drive Scotland’s recovery and help us to build a healthier, fairer and greener country. As set out yesterday, overall our plans will see an additional £6.1 billion in resource costs and £1.7 billion in capital costs.

“Both are less than the central projections of the Medium Term Financial Strategy published earlier this year, making these plans affordable even on relatively cautious financial estimates of future revenue.”