Summary

  • Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross has launched his party's general election manifesto

  • He says that the party has "a laser-like focus on the real priorities of the Scottish public"

  • He promises to grow the economy, rebuild public services and tackle issues that matter to communities

  • Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also speaks at the event, pledging that the party will cut taxes

  • Voters will go to the polls in the general election on 4 July 2024

  1. Key points: Scottish Conservative manifesto launchpublished at 13:28 British Summer Time 24 June

    As we bring our live page coverage to a close, here are the key points from today's manifesto launch:

    • The outgoing Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross was joined by the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to deliver the manifesto.
    • Ross pledged to recruit 1,000 additional GPs to help tackle NHS waiting lists. He also pledged funding for more police officers to "crack down" on crime.
    • The party leader also vowed to abolish the intermediate rate of income tax in Scotland, and raise the land building transaction tax threshold.
    • The Prime Minister said he will grant new oil and gas licences in the North Sea.
    • The party would increase support for farmers with the introduction of a country-wide food security target.
    • The PM warned against voting for the SNP or Reform UK.
  2. Only the Tories will continue to cut taxes in Scotland claims PMpublished at 13:25 British Summer Time 24 June

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
    Image caption,

    Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was in Edinburgh to launch the Scottish Conservative manifesto

    In an interview with BBC Scotland, the prime minister has insisted the only way to see taxes continue being cut in Scotland is to vote for the Scottish Conservatives.

    "It's only a vote for the Scottish Conservatives that means focus on the people's priorities on the day to day issues people care about and not obsessing about independence," Rishi Sunak says.

    He insists the Tories are united in Scotland and says this morning's manifesto launch in Edinburgh focused on getting back to people's priorities.

    The PM says Scotland is the high tax capital of the United Kingdom.

    "We will focus on day to day issues that matter to people when it comes to public services. That's a very clear choice for everyone here."

  3. PM and Ross in agreement over Euros penaltypublished at 13:17 British Summer Time 24 June

    Before getting down to the manifesto nitty gritty, Douglas Ross said he was keen to address the big topic of the day: "It was 100% a penalty."

    The party leader, who is also a part-time football referee, was of course referring to the decision not to award Scotland a penalty in their 1-0 defeat to Hungary in the Euro 2024 tournament on Sunday night.

    The PM says he agrees and that "as a Saints fan", he is a fan of Stuart Armstrong, who plays club football for Southampton as well as playing for Scotland, and who was denied the penalty last night.

    It's not often Scottish and English football fans agree...

  4. Analysis

    Tories oppose state regulation and control of the presspublished at 13:13 British Summer Time 24 June

    Pauline McLean
    BBC Scotland Arts Correspondent

    Culture and sport are last on the list in the Scottish Conservatives manifesto - but at least they get a mention, and recognition that they’re the core of national identity.

    In it, they pledge to reopen heritage sites which have been closed since the pandemic and reverse cuts to Visit Scotland which would see all tourist information centres shut by 2026.

    They would also suspend the short term lets licensing scheme - which would please Edinburgh’s festivals which have struggled to find accommodation, but concern those campaigning for affordable housing all year round. The Conservatives say they would launch a full review which they say would allow them to develop a new approach which would balance local housing needs with short term visitors.

    They credit Tory tax incentives with the UK wide boom in film and high end television, and promise continued support for the entire creative sector but there’s little detail about how that would be achieved.

    There are stern words for the BBC, with charter renewal not a done deal, and they pledge to introduce a new independent complaints process to prevent the BBC from “marking its own homework”.

    The British press gets freer rein with a pledge to oppose state regulation and control of the press, including any attempt to bring forward a second Leveson inquiry or reopen a royal charter on self regulation of the press. The previous regulator, the Press Complaints commission, was shut down before the previous Leveson report was published.

    Newspapers are in decline and believe any regulation needs to focus on the vastly expanding digital media world.

  5. Analysis

    A choice between the Tories and the SNP?published at 13:00 British Summer Time 24 June

    Ione Wells
    Political correspondent

    The prime minister and current Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross are trying to frame this election in Scotland as a choice between the Tories and the SNP.

    They’ve accused the SNP of making this a "single issue" election and an unofficial independence referendum.

    The SNP, meanwhile, has accused the Tories of being "finished" in Scotland and says a vote for the SNP would "send them packing".

    Remember though - Labour too has its eyes on regaining seats in Scotland, something that is seen as key to it getting a solid majority.

  6. Blurred lines on educationpublished at 12:52 British Summer Time 24 June

    Jamie McIvor
    BBC Scotland News Correspondent

    Education is a devolved matter. The buck stops at Holyrood when it comes to education policy and practice.

    Yet two pages of the Scottish Conservative manifesto concern schools.

    Their policies include providing a guarantee that all pupils should have the opportunity to study at least seven subjects in S4 – a response to concerns about how pupils at different schools can study for varying numbers of qualifications.

    The manifesto also includes a commitment to improve teachers’ pay and conditions and give them more time to prepare for lessons.

    All of this touches on an area where Westminster has no power in Scotland.

    Rather, the Conservatives are hoping to highlight what they see as the SNP’s failures and what they would want to do at Holyrood after the 2026 election.

    The borders between Scottish and UK politics can become blurred.

  7. Former Tory minister insists he is not seriously illpublished at 12:44 British Summer Time 24 June

    David Duguid is in hospital after becoming unwell in AprilImage source, UK Parliament
    Image caption,

    David Duguid is in hospital after becoming unwell in April

    The Conservative candidate ousted from the Aberdeenshire North and Moray East constitutency chose the night before the party’s manifesto launch to post his latest update stressing that he is not seriously ill.

    Former Scotland office minister David Duguid wrote on X, formerly Twitter, external, that he’s had no contact from the party’s management board which decided to deselect him on health grounds.

    He also stresses that he never had surgery.

    The party’s director in Scotland did, however, visit him to inform him of the decision, he says.

    Douglas Ross is contesting this seat instead.

    You can see a full list of the candidates standing in this constituency here.

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  8. Ross vows to end 'decade of division'published at 12:31 British Summer Time 24 June

    Media caption,

    Ross: We can bring an end to the decade of division

    Douglas Ross tells his party the general election is "pivotal" for Scotland.

    He says: "We can continue to fight the same old tired debate for another five years.

    "Or we can choose as a nation, to change course. To finally bring to an end a decade of division," he said.

    The Scottish Conservative leader wants to focus on the every day issues that matter to Scottish people, like reducing NHS waiting times and improving education, he says.

  9. Analysis

    Not exactly clear how Scottish Tories would cut income taxpublished at 12:18 British Summer Time 24 June

    Ione Wells
    Political correspondent

    Interestingly, Rishi Sunak has accused the SNP-run Scottish government of making Scotland a "high tax capital". But the Conservatives' Scottish manifesto also claims they would cut income tax.

    So whose responsibility is income tax?

    The rates and bands of income tax are devolved in Scotland - so can be set by the Scottish government - even if it’s collected and managed by HMRC.

    It’s not exactly clear how he’d be able to enforce and guarantee that pledge.

  10. Analysis

    Tories want to be party of the oil and gas sectorpublished at 12:13 British Summer Time 24 June

    Kevin Keane
    BBC Scotland environment correspondent

    The Scottish Conservatives are desperate to show themselves as the party of the oil and gas sector - but their manifesto repeats a now discredited figure around the future of jobs in the sector.

    It suggests that Labour and the SNP are putting 100,000 Scottish jobs at risk by not fully backing future exploration licensing, as the Tories are.

    But the North Sea is a declining industry with oil rapidly running out and so jobs are continually being lost.

    The industry's own figures show that, at present, they employ about 60,000 people in Scotland, directly and indirectly. Even when you add in induced jobs like hospitality and retail, whose customers earn their crust from oil, that figure only jumps to 83,000.

    Research from Robert Gordon University says the difference between the best and worst case scenarios is 27,000 oil and gas jobs - and that's across the whole UK, not just Scotland.

    Where the Conservatives agree with the other parties is on the need to ensure a fair energy transition for workers.

  11. Sunak 'not aware' of any other candidate being looked at for election betspublished at 12:08 British Summer Time 24 June

    Ione Wells
    Political correspondent

    Rishi Sunak has just been speaking to a group of reporters in Edinburgh.

    I asked him whether he could rule out cabinet ministers using knowledge about the timing of the election to place a bet.

    He said he is “not aware of any other candidate” the Gambling Commission is looking at, but said the commission does not reveal names of who they are looking at.

    He said “of course” this meant he and his family had not placed a bet because “he is a candidate”.

    Remember though, it’s not just two candidates but also two Conservative Party officials we so far know are being looked at.

  12. Analysis

    Tories claim to be focused on voters' priorities (not independence)published at 12:02 British Summer Time 24 June

    Kirsten Campbell
    BBC Scotland political correspondent

    The Scottish Conservative manifesto is called "focused on your priorities".

    The press release talks of the manifesto having a laser-like focus on the real priorities. For that, read “not independence”.

    It’s no surprise that the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party, to give it its full title, wants to remain part of the UK.

    Many of its pledges are focused on devolved policy areas where it claims to be providing solutions to what it sees as the SNP’s incompetence.

    The roads it promises to upgrade, like the A96 in the North East and the A77 in the South West, are in parts of the country where the two parties are competing for seats.

  13. Politics faces a 'trilemma'published at 11:59 British Summer Time 24 June

    Douglas Fraser
    Scotland business & economy editor

    Ahead of the Scottish Tory manifesto launch, the Institute for Fiscal Studies published its overview of the Britain-wide manifestos.

    Its director, Paul Johnston, sounds ever more frustrated at the lack of candour across the parties on the "trilemma" - either more tax, lower spend or more borrowing. And he doubts their ability to boost growth as a solution.

    By constraining themselves on borrowing and tax, while protecting some priority services (mainly the NHS), party plans imply deep cuts of "between £10 and £20bn" in unprotected services.

    "Low growth, high debt and high interest payments mean we need to do something quite rare just to stop debt spiralling ever upwards: we need to run primary surpluses," says Johnston. "That means the government collecting more in tax and other revenues than it spends on everything apart from debt interest. Not necessarily a recipe for a happy electorate."

    And still the promises keep coming; more NHS staff, more hospitals, mental health: "You can’t pledge to end all waits of more than 18 weeks, allocate no money to that pledge, and then claim to have a fully costed manifesto," says the IFS director.

    "How would either party deal with backlogs in the court system, overflowing prisons, crises in funding of higher and further education, social care, local government? We have not a clue."

    These are questions about public services in England, but through the funding mechanism for Holyrood, all the same issues apply in Scotland.

  14. No questions asked... for nowpublished at 11:51 British Summer Time 24 June

    There will be no question and answer session at this launch.

    But the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross will be doing broadcast interviews and what’s called a newspaper huddle - where press journalists can ask questions away from the TV cameras.

    We'll bring you more detail on the BBC's interviews once they've been done.

    Stay tuned for analysis of the Scottish Tory manifesto from BBC Scotland correspondents.

  15. Sunak concludes speechpublished at 11:51 British Summer Time 24 June

    Concluding his speech, Sunak says his grandparents came to Britain with "almost nothing" and he is now prime minister.

    "In no other country would my story be possible and that's why I will always work as hard as I can for all of you," he concludes.

  16. Voting Reform lets the SNP in through the backdoor - Sunakpublished at 11:50 British Summer Time 24 June

    Sunak says the people of Scotland should use the election to send a message to the SNP to "move on with their independence obsession".

    He says: "Voting Reform lets the Nationalists off the hook. Don't let your frustration allow the SNP to keep the constitutional debate going.

    "Voting Reform risks letting the SNP slide in through the back door and they are not on the side you think they are."

    The prime minister says statements made by Reform leader Nigel Farage "plays right into Putin's hands" and is "dangerous" for the UK and its allies.

  17. We will protect farmers, says PMpublished at 11:44 British Summer Time 24 June

    The prime minister says the Conservatives will legislate country wide for a food security target, increasing funding to farmers.

    He says: "This will require the Scottish government to report on how this money is being spent to support our farmers and boost our food security. We will not let the SNP let down our farmers again."

  18. Here's a link to the manifestopublished at 11:29 British Summer Time 24 June

    You can read the Scottish Tories' 2024 manifesto here, external.

  19. PM pledges to grant new oil and gas licencespublished at 11:24 British Summer Time 24 June

    Rishi Sunak says: "Our North Sea industry isn't safe with Labour either."

    He says the Tories stand "full square behind Scotland's North Sea oil and gas industry".

    "We're committed to new licences, more investment in infrastructure and skills and energy security for our country."

  20. 'Attack, abolish, enterprise, encourage'published at 11:21 British Summer Time 24 June

    In the next parliament the Conservatives will scrap the main rate of self-employed National Insurance entirely.

    "Attack, abolish, enterprise, encourage," the prime minister continues.

    He pledges to continue the triple lock on pensions.

    "Your pension simply isn't safe with the Labour Party."