John Swinney calls on Labour to commit to emergency budget

The first minister said said: “On austerity the Labour party has made it clear that there will be no increases in income tax, no increases in corporation tax, no increases in national insurance, no increases in VAT.

“They’ve signed up to the tight fiscal limits of the Tories, they’ve signed up to tight borrowing that is austerity on steroids from the Labour party.”

He called on Labour leader Sir Keir to commit to delivering an emergency budget “very swiftly” should he be elected prime minister.

Prior to the speech, the SNP leader spent the morning in the Glasgow south constituency, meeting the owners of Merry-Go-Round – a charity shop for baby clothes and toys, focused on helping families save money.

He accused the Conservatives of delivering 14 years of austerity in Scotland, which he claimed had “inflicted hardship” on people in communities like those in Glasgow.

The first minister said people across Scotland have had to “wrestle” with challenges of hyper inflation and rising prices for food and energy as a “consequence of Westminster mismanagement”.