The Scottish Conservatives have unveiled their vision for Scotland ahead of the 12 December general election. Many of the pledges relate to issues such as education or health, which are devolved to the Scottish Parliament. This means the Scottish Conservatives would either need to the win the support of the Scottish government or win the next Holyrood election in 2021 before such policies could be introduced.
Key points:
- Stop plans for a second independence referendum next year
- Get Brexit sorted so Scotland can move on
- No VAT or National Insurance rises
- More than £3.1bn for Scottish public services as a result of the investments made in public services in England
- A review of alcohol duty to back Scottish whisky and gin producers
- Introduce an Australian-style points-based immigration system
Have a look at the manifesto in full.
Brexit and indyref2
The manifesto pledges to:
- Get Brexit sorted so Scotland can move on
- Protect the integrity of the UK single market and the ability of businesses to trade across the country
- Introduce an Australian-style points-based immigration system that works for every part of the UK
- Stop plans for a second independence referendum next year
- Strengthen the Union
Johnson claims Scotland ‘paralysed’ by SNP
Work and benefits
- No VAT or National Insurance rises
- Raise the threshold at which individuals pay National Insurance to £9,500 and, later, to £12,500
- Continue the roll-out of universal credit
- Keep the triple lock, winter fuel payments and other pensioner benefits
- Review state pension inequality for Waspi women
Economy and business
- Introduce a UK shared prosperity fund, to be used to tackle inequality and deprivation in each nation
- Cut corporation tax from 28% to 19%
- Bring Oil and Gas sector deal to support the North East economy and protect the more than 100,000 jobs in Scotland that rely on oil and gas
- Work towards Growth Deals for Falkirk and the Islands
Public services
- £2bn funding passed to the Scottish government as a result of spending commitments on the NHS in England, but as health is devolved it will be up to the Scottish government how it is spent
- Pressure the Scottish government to see a greater share of NHS funding going to GPs
- Work with Scottish Conservative MSPs to tackle teacher shortages, as education is devolved to the Scottish Parliament
- Bring greater focus to core skills and refresh the Curriculum for Excellence
- Bring in a vocational education system
Environment and energy
- Deliver on target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
- Use the UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow in 2020 to ask global partners to match that ambition
- Establish a £500m Blue Planet Fund
- Maintain the energy cap and introduce measures to lower bills
- Use £1bn Ayrton Fund to develop affordable and accessible clean energy
- Build the first fully deployed carbon capture storage cluster by 2025
- Support gas for hydrogen production and nuclear energy, including fusion, as important parts of the energy system, alongside increasing commitment to renewables
Fishing and farming
- Take back control of the UK’s fisheries by becoming an independent coastal state
- Maintain funding for fisheries throughout the Parliament and support regeneration of coastal communities
- Introduce a legal commitment to fish sustainably
- £200m in funding to support Scottish agriculture, but as agriculture is devolved it would be up to the Scottish government to decide how this was spent
- Free farmers and crofters from the Common Agricultural Policy by getting Brexit done
- Guarantee the current annual budget to farmers in every year of the next Parliament
- Encourage the Scottish government to adopt proposals that pay farmers for environmental stewardship
- Increase the annual quota for the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme from 2,500 to 10,000
Crime
- Bring in whole-life sentences
- Crack down on online crimes by creating a new national cyber crime force
- Strengthen the National Crime Agency to counter the threat of serious and organised crime
- Invest in the police and security services to prevent terrorism and give them powers to combat new threats
- Improve the security of public venues
Democracy
- Scrap the Fixed Term Parliaments Act
- Update Parliamentary boundaries
- Continue to support the First Past the Post voting system
- Prevent any future foreign interference in elections
- Maintain the voting age at 18 for UK-wide elections
Other notable policies:
- Maintain Trident
- Invest in global defence programmes, including building the new Type 31 frigates at Rosyth
- Full fibre broadband to every home by 2025
- Continue to campaign for rural communities’ access to banking services
- Back a potential UK and Ireland bid for the 2030 World Cup