Goldie attacks “fantasy economics” from Labour and the SNP

Only the Scottish Conservatives are telling it like it is and have produced a manifesto that is fully costed and credible.

The other parties are indulging in fantasy economics and misleading voters.

Annabel Goldie, Scottish Conservative Leader, said:

"Trying to pick between Alex Salmond and Iain Gray isn't a choice, it's a dilemma.

"Nothing exposes that dilemma more than the fantasy economics in the SNP and Labour manifestos.

"There is a massive black hole at the heart of their plans.

"Iain Gray's funding is pure fiction; Alex Salmond's funding is pure fantasy. Both are conning the voters and indulging in glossy populism rather than common sense realism. Who would trust Labour with Scotland's finances? This is the party which left the UK with a toxic legacy of debt, now costing us all a fortune. Iain Gray is a paid up member of the Labour big spender club: the less you have, the more you spend.

"And who can trust the SNP with their trail of broken promises? The Nationalists might want to forget, but the voters won't – they have been conned once, but never again.

"Alex Salmond and Iain Gray cannot fund their manifesto pledges. They are wilfully misleading voters for their own selfish political ends. It is shameful and disgraceful.

"Alex Salmond and Iain Gray need to realise that you can't spend money which isn't there. Either they are unintentionally ignorant, or wilfully misleading. The first is careless, the second is dishonest.

"From the Scottish Conservatives, no fiction, no fantasy, but policies based on fact and firm finance. Only the Scottish Conservatives are telling it like it is and we have produced a manifesto which is fully costed and credible. We refuse to rely on savings we can't identify to pay for the promises we make. Parties which claim that billions of pounds can be saved have a duty to tell us how and where.

"Our plans are realistic about today, but optimistic about Scotland's future. Whilst the others are indulging in pie-in-the-sky economics, our feet are firmly on the ground. Thankfully, voters don't have to choose between Salmond and Gray. In a parliament of minorities, there is another way, the Common Sense way of the Scottish Conservatives."

SNP and Labour are relying on over £3 billion of so-called efficiency savings. But these savings have not been made – the money is not there.

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