SPENDING pledges by the UK's two biggest parties are not deliverable, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
Director Paul Johnson, speaking at the Fraser of Allander Institute's launch of the annual Scotland's Budget Report, said some of their announcements are "campaign rhetoric" .
He said: "In September in the spending round, the Conservatives promised some fairly significant increases in spending next year, particularly in health, education and social care.
"Obviously not undoing the cuts across the piste in the last decade or so. They're just about consistent with keeping the public finances under control.
"We've got Labour and the Conservatives proposing significant spending increases, they're just not deliverable.
"You can't double investment spending within three or four years in any sensible way.
"We wait to see what their broader spending plans are going to be."
The economist also said the announcements made to date, in the run-up to the December 12 poll, are not over and more are likely to be made in the next six weeks.
He said: "We saw in the 2017 Labour manifesto some really big spending increases but they're clearly not mentioning increases in health and welfare, and other things.
"They're really wrapping things up as big shiny things – free education and free childcare.
"One needs to be very careful, because all the things that they're mentioning aren't necessarily all the things.
"(Labour) also have some big tax rises as well, the Conservatives are in a bit of corner because they've said they want to keep the current budget balance, I doubt that they're going to have big tax rises, so that doesn't leave them with room to manoeuvre."
When asked if he thinks some of the spending pledges were "campaign rhetoric", Johnson said: "I think there's a lot of that already.
"The Conservatives have suggested that Labour have £1 trillion in spending pledges, that's clearly not the right number but it reflects all sorts of promises or suggestions or indications that Labour have made of things they'd like to do.
"Of course, the Conservatives are doing the same thing, just like they did at the last election about more GPs and more GP appointments, which sound good – but where's the money coming from?"
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel