HOLYROOD'S new powers have forced the SNP to take a "realistic, responsible view" of tax, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has claimed.
She said the Nationalists had adopted similar policies to her own party while coming from a "different space in the political spectrum".
The Scottish Tories, who are bidding to replace Labour as the main opposition party at Holyrood, have called for Scots to pay the same levels of income tax as in England, where Chancellor George Osborne unveiled a generous cut for higher rate payers.
The SNP has pledged not to pass on the cut in full but both parties oppose plans by Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Greens to increase income tax for most workers.
Holyrood will take near-full control over income tax from April next year as part of a package of new powers.
Speaking at a lunch organised by Holyrood journalists in Edinburgh, Ms Davidson said left wing parties calling for tax rises were "trying to get noticed".
Discussing the new powers, she added: "I think you are seeing the consequences of perhaps ourselves and the SNP - in different spaces on the political spectrum - trying to assume different roles after the election, taking a really realistic, responsible view of what governance, opposition, politics and policy making is and should be in this country."
She revealed the Conservatives will include a pledge to recruit an extra 500 health visitors in their election manifesto, to be unveiled next Wednesday.
The promise is linked to a second commitment - to lobby for the repeal of the controversial 'named person' child protection scheme.
She said the initiative, which will see every child appointed a health visitor or teacher to oversee their welfare, was "the most confused and unworkable law ever passed in Holyrood".
The pledge follows a survey showing Scotland’s health visitors are concerned about taking on the named person role.
Unison, the local government union, found 52 per cent were opposed to the introduction of the scheme and 48 per cent were in favour.
Labour, which supported the scheme initially, has called for it to be "paused".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel