Austerity will be reversed by increasing spending on public services, Kezia Dugdale has pledged.

In a speech at the STUC's annual congress in Dundee, the Scottish Labour leader outlined her party's five-point plan to end austerity.

Dugdale promised that if elected as First Minister her government will increase spending on public services.

She said: "All parties will make promises in this election. But they cannot afford to deliver on those promises, in a time of cuts to public spending, if they do not also promise to break from austerity.

"That is why Labour's plan at this election begins with one promise above all others: any Labour Scottish Government will increase spending on public services in Scotland.

"We know that austerity is not an act of God, it is a political choice."

Dugdale used the speech to reveal her proposal for a skills body which trade unions would be part of.

She said: "It will aim to give anyone out of work the help they need to move into a job.

"But it will also aim to give everyone in work the help they need to move up, to upskill, to build the kind of economy we all want to see. It won't just be a radically different approach from the Tory approach to the workplace and to those out of work.

"It will be a radically different approach from the SNP over the last few years that has resulted in 152,000 fewer students at our colleges."

The SNP dismissed Labour's tax policies as "deeply unfair".

A party spokesperson said : "Kezia Dugdale is all over the place on this. Labour's plan to increase the basic rate of tax for everyone, including the lowest paid and pensioners, simply shifts the burden of Tory austerity onto those who can least afford it, and is deeply unfair.

"And Labour have already U-turned on their proposal to compensate low earners and pensioners with a rebate.

"Under Kezia Dugdale's plan for council tax, people in small family homes in the seat she is standing in, Edinburgh Eastern, could end up paying almost double what they are paying today.

"And she has already admitted that the 50p rate could raise nothing at all so people across Scotland know that Labour's plans are not credible or costed.

"In contrast, the SNP's tax plans at local and national level, which ask the better off to pay slightly more, are fair, proportionate and costed, and will raise around £2bn in additional revenue for public services over the course of the next parliament."

The Scottish Liberal Democrats, the Scottish Greens and the Scottish Conservatives have been approached for comment.

Download: The STV News app is Scotland's favourite and is available for iPhone from the App store and for Android from Google Play. Download it today and continue to enjoy STV News wherever you are.