FAI economists Mairi Spowage, João Sousa and Ciara Crummey discuss the Scottish Parliamentary election manifestos – SNP, Conservatives, Labour, Reform, Lib Dems and Greens – and what they do and don’t discuss, as well as some eye-catching pledges, from price caps on food to pledging to bring half a million more people into the labour market. Would any of these work?
This work is supported by the Nuffield Foundation. The Nuffield Foundation is an independent charitable trust with a mission to advance social well-being. It funds and undertakes rigorous research, encourages innovation and supports the use of sound evidence to inform social and economic policy, and improve people’s lives. The Nuffield Foundation is the founder and co-funder of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, the Ada Lovelace Institute and the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. Find out more at: nuffieldfoundation.org.
The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation.
Timestamps
(0:05) Introductions
(0:46) The level of detail of the manifestos
(9:47) Costings in the manifestos
(16:44) The SNP’s food price cap
(18:39) Reform’s plan to bring in half a million people into the labour market
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Authors
Mairi is the Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute. Previously, she was the Deputy Chief Executive of the Scottish Fiscal Commission and the Head of National Accounts at the Scottish Government and has over a decade of experience working in different areas of statistics and analysis.
João is Deputy Director and Senior Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the Fraser of Allander Institute. Previously, he was a Senior Fiscal Analyst at the Office for Budget Responsibility, where he led on analysis of long-term sustainability of the UK's public finances and on the effect of economic developments and fiscal policy on the UK's medium-term outlook.
Ciara is a Knowledge Exchange Associate at the Fraser of Allander Institute. Her main area of focus is macroeconomic and fiscal analysis. She has recently completed a secondment to the Scottish Fiscal Commission, where she worked as an Economic and Fiscal Analyst in the economy team forecasting macroeconomic conditions.