A think tank has warned that SNP policies would condemn an independent Scotland to worse austerity than under Tory UK.
The non-partisan Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's general election manifesto would mean more cuts - or higher taxes.
The IFS, which has a reputation for impartial and cold analysis, has already dismissed spending plans by both Labour and the Conservatives as "not credible".
Writing in The Scotsman, IFS associate director David Phillips said the SNP has not provided detail costings for its manifesto.
Mr Phillips wrote: "In contrast to not only Labour, but also the Liberal Democrats, and the Conservatives, the manifesto omits putting a cost to these measures. Nor does it set out plans for overall tax, spending and borrowing, which the other parties do and the SNP's own manifestos did in 2015 and 2017.
He added: "It may also reflect the fact that the SNP's manifesto isn't really about a plan of action for five years of governing the UK. Rather it is about starting the process of leaving the UK in the next year. It's about contrasting a neardecade of austerity and years of divisive debate over Brexit in the UK, with a positive-sounding vision of independence."
The IFS criticised the SNP for "costly" commitments for free TV licences and WASPI women - those whose pension age has been equalised with men. The think tank stressed these measures would not reduce inequality becauses pensioners are better off than the rest of the population.
READ MORE: Donald Trump: US wouldn't want NHS
Mr Phillips concludes: "Pursuing the types of policies suggested in the SNP manifesto in an independent Scotland would mean either those cuts would have to be even bigger, or other taxes would have to be increased to pay for the proposed net giveaways."
Kirsty Blackman, the SNP's deputy Westminster leader and economy spokesperson, defended the manifesto.
She told The Scotsman: "In the next parliament we could potentially hold the balance of power. While we would never put the Tories into government, we have laid out clearly what our demands would be to any other party expecting our support. If Scotland had the powers of any normal country, we wouldn't need to wait for Westminster to bring in a real Living Wage or fairer parental leave - we could do it ourselves."
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