At the SNP’s conference in Perth, Scotland’s Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a plan to cut Scottish consumers’ energy bills after independence by having the Government pay the levy that funds green investment. This will happen, alongside renationalising Scotland’s postal service if Scotland votes for independence next year.

The SNP have always been good at coming up with ways to spend our money. In fact, many of their manifestos have spent all the available money several times over.  In September, the Institute of Fiscal Studies reported that:

If an independent Scotland wanted to deliver the same cuts to public service spending as implied by the UK Government over the two years from April 2016 this would imply a cut of £2.5 billion, or 6% on average. If OBR projections of North Sea oil revenues turn out to be correct then an independent Scotland might need to implement a further £3.4 billion of tax rises or spending cuts.

In other words, they were already £3.4 billion short before pledging the £120 million for the energy scheme and the goodness knows how much for the postal service.

Alistair Carmichael, Secretary of State for Scotland, said:

Yet again we have a big announcement from the SNP on their plans for independence which has more holes in it than a Swiss cheese. Nicola Sturgeon’s big announcement on energy prices has gone the same way as their earlier announcements on pensions, their proposed oil fund, a separate Royal Mail and membership of the European Union.

People in Scotland are waking up to the fact that the SNP will tell them anything they think they want to hear to make them vote yes. They are losing credibility hand over fist.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social