THE Institute for Fiscal Studies’ criticism of the SNP manifesto commitments on health, saying they are less ambitious than the Westminster Tories, is particularly unfair.

Boris and his party have made so many promises that have never been achieved across a raft of policy areas. They promised 20,000 more police officers, but instead there are 20,600 less than in 2010. They promised to protect workers’ rights, but then failed to back the SNP in their move to end the “fire and rehire” tactics that have become common since Covid-19. In spite of pledges to increase the number of nurses in mental health there are 4,200 fewer full-time equivalents working in this field.

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Although the number of GPs employed in England has risen slightly, the number of full-time equivalents has actually fallen since 2015. Although it is acknowledged that Scotland is in desperate need for even more GPs, in 2019 the Scottish Government announced an increase of 55. In England, the latest data showed the number of GPs fell by 339 in the same period.

The SNP promises may not be as ambitious as some would like, but at least they are being delivered.

Pete Rowberry
Duns