Conservatives 'laser-focused' on Scots' priorities

The Scottish Conservatives have announced five key policy pledges in their general election manifesto.

Party leader Douglas Ross - who was joined by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at an event in Edinburgh - said the document was "laser-focused" on the public's priorities.

He said his party would recruit more GPs and police officers, upgrade rural trunk roads, improve education and cut income tax and national insurance.

Aside from national insurance, all of the policy areas are devolved to the Scottish Parliament and are not controlled by Westminster.

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Mr Ross, who has confirmed he will stand down as Scottish Tory leader after the election, told voters they had a chance to "bring an end to the decade of division – and move forward to solving the everyday issues that people across Scotland face".

He said: "Like how we clear the record patient backlogs in our NHS.

"How we get Scottish education back up international rankings

"Or how we deliver our transition to net zero without decimating north east livelihoods and our economy."

When it was put to Mr Ross that only the Scottish Parliament could tackle the devolved issues, he replied: “That’s not the case because I know from my time as an MP you can get involved in any and all issues.

“But it’s also the issues that the public are speaking about in this election.”

Mr Sunak said the election in Scotland was crucial.

"It will determine whether we have MPs focused on the real priorities of the Scottish people, or whether the divisive constitutional wrangling of the last decade continues," he said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joined Douglas Ross at the manifesto launch in Edinburgh

The five key Scottish Conservative proposals are:

• Recruiting 1,000 extra GPs to help cut NHS waiting times

• "Backing teachers to teach" and increasing subject choices for pupils

• Hiring 1,000 extra police officers and introducing longer sentences for dangerous criminals, including whole life sentences

• Upgrading Scotland’s "neglected roads", including the A9, A96, A90, A75, A77, A83 and A1

• Cutting national insurance

• Abolishing the intermediate income tax rate - 21p in the pound for Scots earning between £26,562 and £43,662

Mr Ross said the income tax change would save Scottish workers up to £171 per year.

He also said his party would raise the threshold for Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, a duty on house purchases, from £145,000 to £250,000. The Scottish Tory leader told the event in Edinburgh this would save buyers up to £2,100 on the cost of their home.

On energy, the Scottish Conservative manifesto said the party would legislate to ensure annual licensing rounds for oil and gas production from the North Sea, as well as creating new gas power stations.

The party vowed to treble offshore wind capacity, progress carbon capture and storage in Aberdeenshire and give planning consent for a new generation of nuclear power stations north of the border.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, First Minister John Swinney marked the eighth anniversary of the Brexit referendum at a speech in Aberdeen.

The SNP leader said billions of pounds had been wiped from the economy and said the Tories had a “brass neck” to set out what Scotland wanted.

And at a campaign visit near Glasgow, Labour Treasury spokesperson Rachel Reeves said her party would bring 69,000 jobs to Scotland.

Speaking at Whitelee Windfarm, she said a Labour UK government, working with the Scottish government, would deliver the new roles in the "energy industries of the future".

Meanwhile, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said his party wanted to make care a “profession of choice” again by introducing a new minimum wage £2 higher than the national minimum wage.