Sarwar makes income tax pledge as Labour rallies – Daily Business

Anas Sarwar: Scots are paying more but getting less (pic: DB Media Services)

Anas Sarwar has been re-energised by a new poll showing an upturn in support for Scottish Labour that could deprive the SNP of a majority of seats at Holyrood.

New polling shows Mr Sarwar’s party edging clear of Reform UK whose support has fallen to its lowest level in more than a year following a series of setbacks.

Pollster Sir John Curtice has said that the drop in Reform’s support was “bad news” for the nationalists. The Norstat poll for The Sunday Times puts the SNP on course for just 57 seats — eight short of a majority — with Labour the main opposition party on 20 seats and Reform third on 16.

The uplift in support for Labour would suggest Mr Sarwar has managed to ride through the dip that followed his fall-out with Sir Keir Starmer. The Scottish Labour leader has said he has no regrets in calling for the Prime Minister’s resignation and polling would indicate the public have backed his stand.

Reform’s support has drifted after its Scottish leader Malcolm Offord was forced to apologise for a homophobic joke and a number of candidates withdrew from the campaign.

Today Mr Sarwar took the fight to the SNP by promising not to raise income tax for five years and accusing John Swinney’s government of breaking a promise In 2021 to freeze income tax rates and bands.

“Instead, more than a million Scots now pay more income tax than they would elsewhere in the UK.,” he said. “Everyone earning £33,500 or more is paying more, including nurses, teachers and police officers.

“Someone earning £45,000 now pays around £400 more, while someone on £50,000 pays around £1,500 more. Meanwhile, the maximum saving anyone gets from the SNP’s system is just £40 a year.”

Mr Sarwar added that “Scots are paying more, but Scotland is still falling behind because the SNP has failed to grow the economy.”

He said SNP leader and First Minister has been at the heart of the SNP’s fiscal policy for 19 years, “and the result is a low-growth, low-pay economy where hard working Scots are asked to pay more and more while public services still struggle and family finances are stretched to breaking point. 

“A Scottish Labour government will not raise income tax during the next parliamentary term. Its ambition is to cut tax over the course of the parliament when growth allows, starting with those facing the highest marginal tax rates.

“Scottish Labour says that means getting the basics right, ending waste and delivering the growth Scotland needs.”

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