The Scottish Greens launched their manifesto today with a pledge to raises taxes to boost spending on public services.
The Greens want to increase the so-called “Tartan Tax”, increasing income tax by 0.5p in the pound to raise revenue.
If given a share of power, they would also scrap the new Forth road bridge, cancel the Aberdeen western bypass and phase out all coal-fired and nuclear power stations.
They would also introduce a land value tax to replace both the council tax and business rates, raising increased revenue from big businesses and landowners.
Instead, the Greens would invest an extra £2.6 billion in public services, money they say would be raised from the new taxes and scrapping expensive road-infrastructure projects.
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This money would be invested in public transport, free education, a major insulation scheme for Scottish households and affordable housing. The manifesto includes pledges to: * Introduce a land value tax of just above 3p in the pound to replace the council tax and local business rates. * Levy the Scottish variable rate at a rate of 0.5p in the pound. This, they claim, would cost those on £20,000 a year an extra £4 a month and higher taxpayers £15 a month. * Introduce a minimum wage of £7.15 in the public sector. * Back a multi-option referendum on independence. * Oppose mergers of police and fire services into single forces. * Make sure university education remains free. * Introduce free nursery education for children from the age of three. * Two hours of outdoor education per week for pre-school and primary school pupils. * Set a target of 100 per cent of Scotland’s electricity needs to be met through renewables by 2020. * End shooting of seals. * Block ship-to-ship oil transfers. * End dumping of waste at sea. * Ban snaring. * Move transport funding away from roads. * Introduce some form of road pricing, or tolls. * Cut the speed limit to 50mph on single carriageways. * End airport expansion. * Introduce minimum pricing for alcohol. Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Greens' co-convenor and top candidate for the Glasgow region, said: “This is a crucial election. UK ministers are cutting budgets for public services like there's no tomorrow, and all the other parties at Holyrood are debating how to hand those cuts on. All four are sticking with the council tax, which has always been unfair, and which is now no longer even under local control. Not one is prepared to do what it would take to challenge the ideological agenda of privatisation, service cuts for the public, and tax breaks for the better off. Governments of all colours in London and Edinburgh have neglected our environment, let inequality widen and narrowed our politics.” And he added: “Only the Greens are offering an alternative to this failed agenda. We will scrap council tax and invest in the things that matter, from education and housing to public transport and local services. The Scottish parliament was created for this, but you wouldn't know it from looking at the other parties' manifestos. We'll protect Scotland's public services and build the low-carbon economy the other parties only talk about, by cutting energy bills, creating jobs and tackling climate change.”Want to discuss other issues? Join the debate on our new Scottish Voices forum
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