First Minister John Swinney has pledged not to raise taxes in the next parliament as part of the SNP’s pledges ahead of the Scottish election. The party’s manifesto pledges not to increase the rates of income tax, or the amount of bands, with a promise to simplify the tax regime. Saying that the SNP has “set out some fair commitments on income tax,” Mr Swinney added: “We have a fair and progressive system, the most progressive in the United Kingdom, and we’ll keep it that way.” However, he noted a need to be “mindful of the turbulent conditions in which we’re operating and … the effects of inflation and other factors on taxpayers.”
