WITH the General Election just days away, candidates up and down Scotland will be looking to win over as many voters as they can before they head to the polls.
Leading up to the election all the major UK parties have outlined their vision of what they would like to achieve in the next parliament in their manifestos.
In the coming days, The National will take a closer look at all the pro-independence parties' documents.
The SNP launched their manifesto on June 19 in Edinburgh where John Swinney made clear his party's plan is to put the screws to a likely Labour government, in the hopes of moving Keir Starmer further to the left.
Ahead of polling day, on July 4, here’s a look at the SNP’s main points.
Scottish independence
Front and centre in the manifesto is the pledge that a vote for the SNP is a vote for an independent Scotland.
The party claims if it wins the most Scottish seats at the General Election, it will consider this a mandate to request permission from Westminster for another independence referendum.
It also outlines arguments for independence, pointing to cases of “more successful” small independent European nations like Ireland, Denmark, and Sweden.
Public spending
This is a huge talking point for every major party and the SNP are no different, as their manifesto states they want an end to “14 years of Tory-imposed austerity”.
The document outlines how SNP MPs would demand the “full” devolution of taxes to Holyrood, including the windfall tax on oil and gas companies.
It also sketches out how they would spread it out over a “wider” range of companies than what is proposed by Labour and the Tories, to “tackle the twin crises of cost of living and climate change”.
They have also proposed scrapping the Government’s current fiscal rules as they would replace them with a new framework which would allow for increased levels of capital investment.
Energy
Energy is another big topic for all parties across this election campaign, as the ongoing crisis still affects millions of households up and down the country.
The SNP have called on the UK government to “take an evidence-based approach to oil and gas”.
While not specifically backing new licences in their manifesto, they say new permissions should be given for fossil fuel exploitation if such developments pass “a robust climate compatibility assessment”.
The manifesto states: “We believe any further extraction must be consistent with our climate obligations and take due account of energy security considerations.”
Brexit
The party has doubled down on its opposition to Brexit and accused Labour and the Tories of failing to “talk about what we’ve lost, or how much worse off we are with Brexit”.
The document outlines the SNP’s vision for an independent Scotland in the European Union and how they would regain what has been lost as a result of a hard Brexit.
The party states they would aim to harness the opportunities an independent Scotland would be offered if they were to rejoin the EU.
Cost of living
The SNP manifesto calls for a hefty package of measures to help ease the cost-of-living crisis across Scotland.
They want cut-price bills for “all who need”, cuts to standing charges, and a new fuel poverty scheme made by combining the Warm Home Discount and Energy Company Obligation.
They have also called for a “simplified” Help to Buy ISA.
NHS
The party’s manifesto has set out plans to “protect the NHS from Westminster privatisation” as the party has warned Labour during this campaign to keep their hands off it.
The SNP say they would introduce a “Keep the NHS in Public Hands” Bill to stop “any UK government undermining the principles and protections of the NHS as part of any future trade deal” and demand that the NHS gets £10bn extra each year.
They have also called on the UK Government to “match Scotland’s NHS pay deals” at around £6bn.
However, the SNP say this would result in £1.6bn for the Scottish NHS each year through the Barnett formula.
Other areas
- The party has reiterated its calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
- Protecting women’s rights to have abortions.
- An end to “punitive” welfare reforms.
- Taking a “public health” approach to tackling the drugs death crisis, including the legalisation of drugs.
- Supporting compensation calls for Waspi women, the victims of the infected blood scandal, the victims of the Equitable Life scandal and the victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal.
