SNP - NO £18bn-worth of cuts - independence ...

 SNP’s John Swinney reiterates independence goal at manifesto launch.

Scottish first minister says election is chance to reinforce the case for split and warns over Labour cuts.

Swinney urged Scots to “have their eyes wide open [that] voting Labour in Scotland will get you spending cuts”.

“In 2021 [the public] voted for a Scottish parliament with a clear majority for independence and for a referendum. That democratic choice must be respected. At this election we have the opportunity to reinforce the case for Scotland becoming an independent country,” he said.

“Where’s the change?” he asked. “With Labour, we’re going to carry on with two-child [benefits] limit, carry on with Tory fiscal rules, carry on with Brexit [under Labour].”

He returned again and again to the dominant theme of the SNP’s campaign so far that Labour’s plans would involve an “eye-watering” £18bn-worth of cuts, which he said had been forecast by respected thinktanks such as the IFS, the Institute for Government and the Nuffield Foundation.

He contrasted the SNP’s “hard decisions” at Holyrood – where income tax rates and bands are devolved – “to increase tax on higher earners so we could invest more in our public services” and he called on the next UK government to replicate those decisions.

The SNP manifesto calls for further devolution of tax and immigration powers and reiterates previous calls to reverse Brexit, abolish the House of Lords and scrap nuclear weapons.



Swinney said “sensible fiscal rules” proposed in the manifesto would “end the cuts, reverse the £1.3bn cut to Scotland’s capital budget” and allow investment in public services, starting with the health service.

He responded to the Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar...

“Anas Sarwar set out his determination to reverse the decisions we’ve taken on tax,” Swinney said. “Well, people need to have their eyes wide open. The Labour party committed themselves to cut public spending in Scotland, so people need to be aware of the consequences of voting Labour.”

The manifesto also pledges that SNP MPs will press for the “deeply damaging” two-child benefit cap to be scrapped. Swinney suggested Labour was “morally lost” in not committing to doing so.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/19/snp-john-swinney-independence-election-manifesto-launch#:~:text=John%20Swinney%20has%20doubled%20down,on%20Westminster%20for%20a%20referendum.