The Scottish Greens have admitted they do not know how much one of their flagship independence policies will cost.
Co-leader Patrick Harvie said the last time they put a price tag on Universal Basic Income (UBI) was eight years ago.
Under UBI, every citizen would receive thousands of pounds a year regardless of their earnings. Supporters argue the policy could be funded through higher taxes and replacing parts of the existing benefits system.
In a paper on independence, the Greens repeated their support for the radical overhaul: "With independence, Scotland can ensure that everyone has enough to get by, with proper social security, strong public services and Universal Basic Income.”
In a media briefing afterwards, Harvie was asked about how much UBI would cost north of the border: "Oh, well, the last costing for that, I think, we did in the wake of the 2014 referendum. So I think it'd be a mistake to repeat numbers that are nearly a decade old.
“Essentially, the argument is that a universal basic income can be a more affordable system of social security than what we have at the moment because poverty and inequality that arrive from an inadequate system actually cost more money.”
Asked again how much UBI would cost, he replied: “Over the course of the campaign, as I said, we'll put more detail on some of these specifics.”
He was also asked how it would be funded: “You'd fund it through taxation.”
Asked how the money would be raised, he said: “Well, a universal basic income is a more affordable means of social security than the current one that we have, which creates poverty and inequality. Those are expensive things for a society to manage.
Harvie was quizzed on how he could say UBI would be more affordable if he does not know the cost of the policy.
He replied: “The point is that the poverty and inequality that result from our current inadequate Social Security system, which is full of holes, is more expensive for society to manage.
Asked if he had done the maths, he said: “As I said, the last time we produced a costed version of the universal basic income was for the 2014 campaign.”
Put to him that he was backing a policy without knowing the price tag or how it would be funded, he said: "It's a question of values. The Scottish Greens believe in an economy which has at its heart, a sense of equality, of basic human dignity…No one is going to persuade me that one of the wealthiest societies that's ever existed on the planet cannot afford to achieve that.”
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