SNP ‘will bankrupt Britain’
They plan a £118bn spree... for whole UK
NICOLA Sturgeon will this week unveil plans for a £118 billion spending spree which critics say would bankrupt Britain.
The SNP leader said her party’s election manifesto, due to be launched on Tuesday, will end Tory austerity and deliver a huge windfall for public services right across the UK.
She promised that would mean an additional £118 billion spending over the next five years. However, that will raise fears of huge tax rises for families, with the SNP hopeful of propping up a Labour government.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail:
Former SNP donor Bill Samuel has handed £10,000 to the Tories and attacked Miss Sturgeon’s business failings.
Gordon Brown campaigned for Labour – but refused to mention Jeremy Corbyn.
And Willie Rennie predicted up to six Lib Dem seats north of the border after June 8, and claimed that the General Election result could end SNP independence hopes.
Miss Sturgeon had already made clear she would join Labour in a ‘progressive alliance’ in the hope of kicking the Tories out of power.
With the polls narrowing and the SNP hoping to successfully defend 56 out of 59 Scottish seats won in 2015, the chances of Miss Sturgeon being kingmaker at Westminster after June 8 are on the rise.
But Murdo Fraser, Scottish Tory finance spokesman, said: ‘It’s all very well saying they’d raise billions, but they don’t seem to know how. The only way would be to massively increase taxes.
‘That suggests the SNP is preparing a high-tax allegiance with Labour to make Jeremy Corbyn Prime Minister. These plans would bankrupt Britain.’
Last week, the respected Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) criticised both the Conservative and Labour manifestos, and warned Mr Corbyn’s plans would put the tax burden up to the highest level since 1949. The SNP has yet to spell out how the extra £118 billion over the lifetime of the parliament would be raised or spent, except that it would ‘free up resources for public services, protect family budgets, and enable a fair social security system’.
In fact, many social security powers have been devolved to Holyrood, with the Scottish Government also able to top up those reserved to Westminster. However, the SNP has yet to use these powers.
Labour’s manifesto pledged to spend an extra £49billion a year – and claimed it could raise the same amount by hiking taxes on companies and higher earners.
The SNP will make a pitch for the middle ground between Labour and Tories. It will claim its plan would still balance the UK’s books by 202122, but not deliver the surplus the Tories plan in order to bring the UK debt down.
A party spokesman said: ‘An additional £118 billion would be released for public spending UK-wide – freeing up resources for public services, protecting family budgets, and enabling a fair social security system.’
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘Both the Conservatives and Labour’s economic
plans at this election have unravelled already under scrutiny from the IFS, which has confirmed that a vote for the Tories is a vote for more cuts.
‘We will not follow the Tories in their blind pursuit of a pre-election surplus to spend in five years’ time, or Labour in their reckless plans to hike taxes without knowing if they will secure any additional revenue.’
Former Prime Minister Mr Brown, who was campaigning in Greenock, Renfrewshire, for Scottish Labour, said: ‘Poverty among children has risen to 260,000 in Scotland and it will rise by 2022 if the Tories are in power to 320,000, and the SNP government are doing nothing about it.’
Meanwhile, Mr Rennie believes the Lib Dems can add to their one seat with wins in Edinburgh West and East Dunbartonshire, and also have a chance in North East Fife, Argyll and Bute, and Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross. He said: ‘The more seats [the SNP] lose, the greater the chance we have of stopping the referendum.’