The price of "essential" supermarket groceries is to be legally capped to help consumers with the cost of living, First Minister John Swinney has pledged.
The SNP leader, announcing his party's Holyrood election manifesto, said he would use devolved powers to compel supermarkets to limit the cost of bread, milk, cheese and other items.
He also announced ambitions to simplify the income tax system, roll out a £2 cap for single bus fares and deliver extra funded childcare.
At an event in Glasgow, Swinney urged voters to deliver a majority for his party to fuel a push for a second independence referendum.
EPAJohn Swinney unveiled the SNP manifesto at an event in Glasgow As well as independence, he identified the SNP's top priorities as improving access to GPs and cutting NHS waiting lists, eradicating child poverty, taking action on the climate crisis, and introducing a cost-of-living package "unrivalled" elsewhere in the UK.
Swinney, who has been first minister for almost two years, said he was "just getting started".
He described the 7 May election as a referendum on independence, bringing down energy bills and allowing Scotland to rejoin the EU.
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Swinney described the food price cap as both a cost-of-living and public health measure.
Cost-of-living concerns have been intensified by the war in Iran, which has led to increases in the price of food and fuel.
The first minister told the event that the cap would apply to "everyday items that make up a decent diet", such as bread, milk, cheese, eggs, rice and chicken in large supermarkets.
The SNP manifesto says the price of between 20 and 50 items would be limited.
Supermarkets would be required to cap the cost of at least one variation of the listed items, such as one particular brand of bread, but would not have to cap the prices of all their bread brands.
"People are, quite simply, struggling to afford food," Swinney told the event.
"In a rich country like Scotland, that is a moral outrage."
It is not clear precisely how the shopping price cap would be enforced, though the manifesto says it would be introduced as a public health measure, similar to the minimum unit price of alcohol.
The document urges the UK government not to block the proposal under the Internal Market Act, which is designed to ensure shared trading standards across the UK.
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Swinney also said his party would put growing the economy, getting people into work and building prosperity at the heart of their policies.
Under the SNP, the Scottish government has used its devolved powers to create a distinct income tax system, with six bands to the UK's three.
Lower earners in Scotland pay slightly less tax than they would if they lived elsewhere in the UK, while middle and higher earners pay significantly more.
Swinney said his party would ensure that a majority of Scots paid less income tax than they would elsewhere in the UK.
The manifesto pledges that the SNP will not increase income tax rates in the next five years, or introduce new tax bands. Instead, the party says it will aim to simplify the system by the end of the parliament, with any changes to put "low and middle income earners at their heart".
Asked if this would mean cutting the number of bands, Swinney did not give further details but said he would maintain Scotland's tax regime as the "most progressive" in the UK.
On health, Swinney outlined a three-point plan to "make our NHS fit for the future" - citing "investment, protection and renewal".
He pledged to cut waiting lists, pass on any increases in health spending by the Treasury to the NHS in Scotland and to expand a network of walk-in GP practices to end the "8am rush" for appointments.
The SNP announced last year it would open 16 GP walk-in clinics, with the first centre opening in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, earlier this year.
However, the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland raised doubts about whether the initiative would meet the headline target of delivering more than one million extra GP and nurse appointments.
The number of long waits of more than a year for a planned hospital appointment or procedure in Scotland has been falling since July.
But a target to eradicate long waits by the end of March was missed by the Scottish government, with more than 44,000 such cases recorded.
Since the pandemic, NHS Scotland has also consistently failed to meet its key target for accident and emergency - that 95% of patients are to be seen, admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours of arrival.
Swinney told the event that a second independence referendum could be held as soon as 2028, describing that as a "very realistic" prospect if the SNP win a majority of seats at Holyrood next month.
A second independence referendum would need to be signed off by the UK government. However, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he cannot imagine another vote taking place during his time in 10 Downing Street.
And on Sunday, asked about a second referendum, UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting told LBC: "We're not having one", adding that the country "has had enough of chaos".
The first minister did not set out in detail how he would bring the UK government to the negotiating table, while Labour ministers have failed to explain Scotland's democratic route to a referendum.
Other key measures in the SNP manifesto include:
- A major projects office to speed up the delivery of "nationally significant" initiatives
- A high-growth unit to accelerate the growth of high-potential businesses
- Reform the planning system
- Help for first-time buyers with up to £10,000 through an equity loan towards a deposit
- The right of first refusal for private renters to buy the property they live in if it goes on sale
- Extend funded childcare support to every child aged from nine months to the end of primary school, all year round.
- A welcome to school bag
- Heart and lung MOTs in community settings across Scotland
- 150,000 apprenticeships
- A teacher job guarantee and a mobile phone ban in schools
- 25% increase in our international development funding
- £75m housing fund for rural and island communities
- A private jet tax
- A mansion tax
- "Substantially" reduce the number of public bodies in Scotland
- Pilot a minimum income for artists
The manifesto includes about £1.4bn in spending plans beyond what the current Scottish government has committed to – including more than £500m to expand childcare provision and more than £200m to subsidise bus travel.
The SNP says the manifesto pledges would be funded by increased tax revenues and extra cash from Westminster, coupled with efficiency savings.
