Anas Sarwar rules out income tax rises if Scottish Labour wins 2026 Holyrood election

Anas Sarwar has ruled out income tax rises if Scottish Labour wins the next Holyrood election in 2026.

The Glasgow MSP made the ambitious pledge to voters as his party starts to look beyond the UK general election on July 4.

Launching the Scottish Labour manifesto in Edinburgh today, Sarwar described change north of the Border as a "two-stage process" - which involves the removal of the Tories at Westminster and the SNP at Holyrood.

But he could not offer a firm date for when the two-child cap on benefits would be scrapped, despite insisting his party remained opposed to the cruel Tory policy.

The manifesto also said Scottish Labour would shake-up the laws governing football to allow "fans to have a greater say" in the way the sport is run.

Speaking to a room full of party members and candidates, Sarwar said: "The manifesto we have published today of course reflects much of what the UK Labour manifesto outlined last week, demonstrating what a UK Labour government will deliver in office.

“But we know change for Scotland is a two-stage process, it begins in just 17 days when we can finally get rid of this lying, corrupt, incompetent Tory Government – but that is just the start.

“In 2026, we need a change of direction at Holyrood as much as we need one at Westminster today.

“The SNP has failed the people of Scotland – breaking our NHS, ruining our once world-leading education system, and tarnishing our politics by wasting and misusing your money.”

The manifesto repeated the party's pledge to deliver a "new child poverty strategy" but made no specific commitment to abolish the two-child cap on benefits.

Asked by the Record if his party remained opposed to the policy, Sarwar said: “The short answer is yes. We were right to oppose the two-child limit, we were right to vote against the two-child limit."

But he added: "The honest reality is after 14 years of Tory economic carnage, we will not be able to do everything we want to do as fast as we want to do."

Sarwar continued: "We have worked really hard to only include in our manifesto promises we know we can keep, and pledges we can spend money on right now, that our country can afford.

"As Keir Starmer made clear, and as I have clear, once the financial circumstances allow, we want to move on the two-child limit, and we want to move in terms of reforming Universal Credit.

"This document we are publishing today, is our first steps for change. We want to go further than this. But we only do that if we deliver a strong green economy, and move on from the incoherence and incompetence of a Tory government that has done so much damage to our country."

During a Q&A with journalists, Sarwar also responded "no" when asked if Labour would raise income tax if the party won power at Holyrood in two years' time.

The Scottish Government has raised income tax for higher earners in recent years after powers over the levy were devolved in 2017.

It means Scots earning £29,000 or above pay more tax than workers living elsewhere in the country.

SNP ministers have argued the tax hikes are progressive as they protect spending on services at a time of huge pressure on the public purse.

But Sarwar blasted income tax hikes and pointed to his party's support for a continuing windfall tax on North Sea oil profits - a policy criticised by the Nationalists.

"John Swinney needs to look voters in the eye and explain why he believes they should pay more tax, and why they should continue to pay huge energy bills while letting the oil and gas giants off scot-free," he said.

Tommy Sheppard, SNP candidate for Edinburgh East, said: "The word may be on the front cover and plastered on the side of a campaign bus, but if there’s one thing this manifesto makes clear it's that Labour offers no real change at all.

"It is a manifesto that doubles down on the silence of the Labour Party on the £18 billion of cuts we know Keir Starmer is planning. With less than three weeks to go in this election, it's about time they were honest with the public about the cuts to public services they are signed up to."

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