In the General Election campaign the party manifestos are released this week, setting out each party’s policies.

On Monday the Liberal Democrats released theirs, and you will find the UK Liberal Democrat manifesto here which the party says is funded through fair taxes, with no increases in VAT or National Insurance. The party proposes to reverse Conservative cuts on banks which would raise Ā£4 billion, and would close tax loopholes saving Ā£5 billion. The party also proposes raising Ā£2 billion from taxing tech giants and social media companies to fund improvements in mental health services.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats will release their Scotland specific manifesto soon, “setting out the party’s priorities for Scotland” but meantime the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, Alex Cole-Hamilton, said: “

The Conservatives have badly mismanaged the economy and made the cost of living crisis worse for everyone. The SNP Government has shown that it cannot be trusted to spend your money wisely and that it is totally unable to get the basics right for our public services.

“It’s time for a change and in so many parts of the country we have shown that it is the Liberal Democrats who can beat the SNP and Conservatives.

“The Liberal Democrat manifesto published today will see Ā£1.5bn more for day-to-day spending coming to the Scottish Budget. It’s a big positive investment that we would use to save the NHS, fix the care crisis and lift Scottish education back up the international rankings.

“We will pay for it fairly too, because it would be wrong to ask families to pay more to clear up the Conservatives’ mess.

“Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to elect a strong local champion who will fight for a fair deal for you.”