Tories Make Budget Offer to SNP

The Scottish Tories are offering to make a budget deal with the SNP but only if they guarantee no future tax rises in Scotland.

With just weeks to go until the Scottish Government sets its budget, we have seen the Conservatives’ proposals, which also include no further cuts to public services and increased spending on the NHS.

Shadow Finance Secretary Murdo Fraser said there was now a clear choice facing the Scottish Government:

“It’s really up to the SNP Government whether they want to do as they’ve done in the past, turn towards the Greens with their mad cap ideas which will damage the economy or whether they want to come and work with us with ideas to grow the economy, grow the tax base and support our public services”.

As part of spending plans for the NHS, the Conservatives want a review of hospital parking across Scotland to assess capacity and for the development of free parking for “protected groups” including disabled patients and parents of sick children staying overnight.

They also want £15.4 million for a national drug rehab bed fund and strategy.

Other budget demands include an additional £50 million to protect 750 police officer roles, an extra £10 million to help end homelessness and a comprehensive reform of business rates.

Mr Fraser believes their plans are affordable as a result of Boris Johnson’s spending commitments in England:

“Finance Secretary Derek Mackay has much more money to play with than he has had previously. This will be the highest budget in a decade with over a billion pounds extra coming in the grant from Westminster”.

Responding to the budget offer, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said:

“It’s no surprise that the Tories want to ignore the climate emergency while lowering taxes for their friends, but this offer does present Derek Mackay and the SNP with an interesting choice. He can work with the Tories, as the SNP did in their first term in government, or he can stay on the progressive path the Greens have introduced, resist the toxic agenda imposed by the UK Government and work constructively with us to tackle the climate emergency head-on and build a new progressive Scotland.”

Spokesperson for Derek Mackay:

''We are speaking to all opposition parties ahead of the budget – and there is an onus on every party to act responsibly given the UK Tory government’s disgraceful delay to their own budget, which has completely ignored Scotland and the urgent need for certainty in public service funding.

The Tories at Holyrood are keen to suggest where more money could be spent, but fail to say what they would cut – and their spending suggestions in previous years would have seen tax cuts for the wealthiest while depriving our NHS and other key services of more than half a billion pounds a year.''The Scottish Government has been approached for a response.

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