SNP manifesto will be ‘bursting with ambition’, pledges John Swinney

The SNP’s manifesto for next month’s Holyrood election will be “bursting with ambition”, while also setting out politics to help Scots “struggling” amid the cost-of-living crisis, John Swinney has said.

With just over three weeks to go until Scots go to the polls, the First Minister is due to unveil his party’s package of policy proposals on Thursday.

With the SNP leader saying that “people are really struggling at the moment”, he vowed the manifesto would have “supporting people with the cost of living at its heart”.

The commitment came as he accused the Labour Government at Westminster of “not lifting a finger” to help Scots in need.

Mr Swinney, speaking ahead of a campaign visit to Maybole in Ayrshire on Wednesday, said: “ People are really struggling at the moment – bills just keep going up, food prices are extortionate and the prices at the pumps are through the roof.

“Meanwhile, Keir Starmer and the UK Labour Government are not lifting a finger to help.

“Well, my message is clear – if the UK Labour Government are not going to act to bring bills down, they should get out of the road for an SNP Government that will.”
The First Minister said: “Where we have the powers in Scotland, we will act – building on the support we already have in place to support people with the cost of living including abolishing peak rail fares, extending childcare provision and ensuring most people in Scotland pay less income tax than south of the border.

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As well as helping people with the cost-of-living crisis, Mr Swinney said that his party’s manifesto “will be bursting with ambition for Scotland’s future”.

This, he said was “because the SNP is on Scotland’s side” with the First Minister asking Scots to give his party a majority at Holyrood.

This he said would allow them to “improve the NHS, support people with the cost of living” but also to “deliver the fresh start of independence”.

Scottish Greens, however, urged the SNP leader to “drop the pretence” that  only an SNP majority can deliver a fresh vote on the future of the UK.

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Party co-leader Gillian Mackay insisted: “Independence is much bigger than any party, and we need to work together to deliver it.

“It’s time for John Swinney to level with people and stop pretending that it is only SNP MSPs that count.”
She added: “The stakes couldn’t be higher.

With Keir Starmer’s Labour Party shedding trust and votes and the very real prospect of Nigel Farage in Downing Street, it has never been more crucial for Scotland to choose our own future.

“The people of Scotland deserve so much better than what Labour is offering.

Why should we be stuck with a Prime Minister so bad that even Anas Sarwar wants rid of him?”
Adding that independence “is about democracy and the simple principle that the best people to choose our own future are the people who live here”, she said that “poll after poll shows that the only way to ensure a pro-independence majority in our Parliament is with a record vote for the Scottish Greens”.

Ms Mackay said: “With the powers of a normal, independent country, we could finally move on from the broken politics of Westminster and do so much more for our climate and our communities.

“Without a pro-independence majority that opportunity will be taken off the agenda, possibly for good.

We can’t risk that.”