Tories unveil blueprint to get Scotland back to work

By MICHAEL BLACKLEY, POLITICAL EDITOR FOR THE SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL Published: 00:02, 7 April 2026 | Updated: 00:02, 7 April 2026 Tax cuts and curbs on the soaring benefits bill will be included in a new Tory blueprint to ‘get Scotland working’ to be unveiled today. The Scottish Conservative manifesto is set to focus on measures to boost jobs and the economy following concerns about stagnant growth during nearly two decades of SNP rule. It will pledge a series of measures to help ease the growing financial strain on families amid the cost of living crisis, as well as measures to get control of the devolved benefits bill, which now costs £7billion a year. The party will also unveil measures to support businesses following concerns about soaring bills, and to cut government bureaucracy. It will insist the set of policies in the 96-page manifesto, titled ‘Get Scotland Working’, are ‘comprehensive, costed and credible’ proposals to provide an alternative to the SNP’s approach of high tax, big State, high welfare, and overregulation. When he unveils the manifesto at an event in Edinburgh, leader Russell Findlay is expected to say: ‘We need to get Scotland working after almost two dismal decades of SNP incompetence, failure and scandal. ‘Things do not have to be this bad. The mess that Scotland is in is the result of the wrong political choices made by SNP administrations. Our manifesto shows there can be a different way – a brighter, more prosperous way. ‘A lower-tax Scotland, where people can keep and spend more of the money they graft for. A booming Scotland, where businesses can thrive. A functioning Scotland, generating the revenue we need to create infrastructure and public services fit for the 21st Century. That is our Conservative way. Russell Findlay with candidate Annie Wells outside the construction site of the new prison HMP Glasgow on Monday ‘This manifesto is our most detailed plan ever for making that vision a reality. It is comprehensive, costed and credible.’ The manifesto is expected to set out more detail about how the party would seek to reduce income tax and close the current gap which sees Scots earning more than £33,493 pay more than they would If they were based south of the border. The Tories will pledge to remove the current 20p basic rate and 21p intermediate rates of income tax, meaning everyone would pay a 19p rate on earnings between the tax-free personal allowance and the higher rate threshold, which is currently £43,663. Currently, someone on a salary of £45,000 pays £396 more in Scotland than they would in the rest of the UK, which rises to £1,496 at £50,000, £2,050 at £75,000, £3,300 at £100,000, £10,431 at £300,000 and £31,431 at £1 million. During tomorrow’s speech, Mr Findlay will also step up his warnings about the dangers of an SNP majority, after John Swinney said at the weekend that he wanted to hold another independence referendum in 2028. Mr Findlay will say: ‘John Swinney has been crystal clear that he will use an SNP majority to press ahead with his plan to hold a second, unwanted, divisive referendum on breaking up our country. We cannot allow him to plunge the next parliament into constitutional chaos. ‘We cannot allow any distraction from the issues that matter most to people: helping with the cost-of-living crisis, growing the economy and fixing our broken public services. ‘Every vote for the Scottish Conservatives on the peach-coloured ballot paper will take us a step closer to stopping the SNP.’ The Scottish Tory leader is expected to step up his warnings about the dangers of an SNP majority in Tuesday's speech The Scottish Tory manifesto will include pledges to expand pre-school childcare, provide a council tax rebate, introduce a new ‘growth test’ for government policy, lower business rates and restructure the system to avoid ‘cliff-edge’ rises, cut red tape, tackle prison overcrowding by sending some inmates to foreign jails, increase school standards and protect traditional exam-based learning, increase NHS funding and end land and buildings transaction tax on primary residences. A Scottish Conservative source said: ‘This is going to be the most comprehensive manifesto the Scottish Conservatives have put out for any Scottish Parliament election of the devolution era.  'The thinking there is that after 19 years of the SNP in power it is easy to forget that things could be very different and things don’t have to be this way.’ Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: ‘The Scottish Tories are going through the motions but everyone knows that they are utterly irrelevant in this election. ‘Russell Findlay and co were cheerleading for Liz Truss while she crashed the economy so it’s no wonder voters are turning away from the Scottish Tories in their droves.’ Karen Adam, SNP candidate for Banffshire & Buchan Coast, said: ‘The Tories, the Labour Party and Reform have nothing to offer the Scottish people and we know Anas Sarwar is plotting a dodgy deal with the pair of them.’ No comments have so far been submitted. 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