SNP leader John Swinney stands by food price cap policy despite industry criticism

SNP leader John Swinney has stood by his plan to cap the price of essential everyday foods, despite criticism from retailers.

Speaking on Scotland Tonight: Meet the Leaders, Swinney said the introduction of the policy was a matter of public health despite the Scottish Retail Consortium branding it as a “potty gimmick”.

The SNP leader said: “People are struggling just now to afford a decent nutritious shop in supermarkets and if we don’t tackle that, then we’ll see the public health implications of that, because people will not be able to get access to nutritious food.”

When questioned on whether the Scottish Parliament has the powers to introduce such a measure, he said he would use public health powers but admitted any legislation could be blocked by Westminster.

He said: “We’ve got public health powers. If we see an issue emerging, which has the potential to undermine the public health of people in Scotland and I think that’s what we’re facing just now as a consequence [we will act].”

He continued: “Everything we do in the Scottish Parliament can be challenged in the courts. That’s the way the Scotland Act is constructed.

“So, any legislation we bring forward can be challenged in the courts. But what I’m saying is that we have the powers to take forward that particular policy measure and it’s up to others to decide how they react to that.”

Health

Health is a major issue for voters at this election.

Figures from Public Health Scotland this week showed that a Scottish Government target to end the longest waits for NHS treatment has not been met, with almost 34,000 waits over a year long.

The figures also showed that half a million people are on a waiting list – that’s around one in ten of the population.

Swinney said: “What I promised people was that I would get long waits down in our hospitals for outpatients and inpatients.

“Now, for outpatients, in a ten-month period, I reduced those waiting lists by 75% and for inpatients by just over 50%.

“So we’re seeing very, very significant progress.

“There will always be a waiting list of people waiting for treatment, but the waiting lists are coming down very significantly under the leadership that I’ve given to the health service.”

Ferries

The SNP leader was also questioned on the delay and cost of two new ferries to island communities – the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa.

The original contract price for the vessels was £97m, but the total costs exceeded £400m.

Meanwhile, last month CalMac is faced a ‘critical situation’ with eight of its major vessels out of action, causing widespread disruption across the Scottish island ferry network.

Swinney said: “I regret the fact that two of the ferries that we’ve purchased have been over budget.

“We’ve got other ferries that we’ve procured. The SNP government has purchased nine new ferries for our ferry network.

“We’ve got 11 more on order that are steadily being brought into the fleet.”

Independence

The SNP are aiming to win a majority of seats at this election which they say would give them a mandate for a second independence referendum.

However, Swinney was challenged on what his plan would be if the UK Government rejected a second vote.

He said: “There’s a fundamental point here about democracy in Scotland, and the people of Scotland are entitled to determine their own future.

“That’s the fundamental position that I bring into this election, and one that I want to see taken into effect by the United Kingdom Government.

“I’m relying on the precedent of 2011, because in 2011, the SNP won an overall majority in the election, and what followed was the acceptance of that by Westminster and a referendum that was agreed by all parties.

“That is what I invite the people of Scotland to do, because we’re in a constitutional logjam.”