Scottish Tory manifesto to launch with focus on tax and cutting benefits bills

The Scottish Conservatives are set to publish their manifesto with a focus on income tax and cutting benefits bills.

The party is set to launch the manifesto in Edinburgh on Tuesday with Conservative leader Russell Findlay expected to focus on the cost-of-living crisis.

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.”

The Scottish Conservatives have said they 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.

They have said the tax cuts will be paid for by the party’s pledge to scrap £7 billion in benefits bills and reducing government bureaucracy.

Findlay is expected to continue: “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.”

SNP candidate for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Karen Adam, said: “Did Russell Findlay also find his decision to back Liz Truss to the hilt as she destroyed the economy ‘costed and credible’? There is nothing credible about anything Russell Findlay has to say.

“The Tories, the Labour Party and Reform have nothing to offer the Scottish people and we know Anas Sarwar is plotting a dodgy deal with the pair of them.

“Only the SNP is on Scotland’s side with John Swinney’s strong leadership firmly focused on the priorities of the people of Scotland – our NHS, the cost-of-living crisis and offering people hope through a fresh start with independence.”

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said the Tories were just “going through the motions” despite being “utterly irrelevant” in this election.

“Russell Findlay and co were cheerleading for Liz Truss while she crashed the economy so it’s no wonder voters are turning away from the Scottish Tories in their droves,” she said.

“It’s clearer than ever that only Scottish Labour can beat the SNP and deliver the change Scotland needs.

“While the height of the Scottish Tories’ ambition is to deprive the SNP of a majority, Scottish Labour is fighting to remove them from government entirely.

“Russell Findlay is happy to play John Swinney’s game and is trying to drag this election back to the arguments of the past because he has nothing to say about our future.

“The momentum is behind Scottish Labour because we are the only party that can get rid of this failing SNP government and fix the mess they have made of our NHS, our schools, our justice system and our economy.”