Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has launched the party's manifesto for the Holyrood election
The proposals include a scheme which would allow pensioners to claim back the first £500 they pay in income tax
The Conservatives' pledges also include cutting tax bills, raising school standards and delivering faster GP appointments
Findlay attacked the SNP and Reform during his speech and said his party's manifesto was comprehensive, costed and credible
Political parties have been campaigning ahead of the election on 7 May
Scottish Conservatives pledge to 'hand back' £500 to pensioners
That's all from our live coverage of the Scottish Parliament election campaign for today.
We'll be back tomorrow as Scotland's main parties hit the election trail the length and breadth of the country.
Join us then.
If you need to catch up, here are the key lines that emerged from Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay's speech at the launch of his party's manifesto:
Alex Cole-Hamilton met Meg MacGill who has been affected by delayed discharge
It's not all about the Tories today, of course.
In Wick, Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said his party would overhaul social care in Scotland.
He vowed to increase salaries for carers, prioritise housing for key workers and change the delayed discharge model from five days to seven days to include weekends.
He made the pledge while visiting 62-year-old Meg MacGill at her home in Thrumster, Caithness.
She spent almost 17 months in hospital due to a lack of social care packages. Cole-Hamilton raised her case with the First Minister in Holyrood previously.
Cole-Hamilton claimed that, currently, every day there are 2,000 Scots stuck in hospital when they are well enough to be discharged, costing the NHS a total of £1.2m.
BBC Scotland: Phil Sim
The Conservatives are aiming to make significant cuts to the benefits system, chiefly by restricting disability payments.
Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts show that spending on social security is set to pass £9bn by 2030-31, and that the Adult Disability Payment will make up more than half of this at £5.3bn.
The Tories want to toughen up eligibility, and have targeted payments based on “less severe mental health conditions”.
They are correct to state that mental and behavioural disorders account for 40% of ADP claims - almost 200,000 people.
Social Security Scotland says this category covers conditions ranging from schizophrenia and psychosis to anorexia and ADHD.
The manifesto cites the fact that it includes things like “social phobias” - although a recent freedom of information request put the caseload for that at 277, compared to over 60,000 claims for anxiety disorders and almost 20,000 for childhood autism.
Reacting to the Conservative manifesto launch, Thomas Kerr from Reform UK says the Tories are a party of "permanent opposition."
He says they could "stand up and announce as many bold policies as they like - but they know they will never have to deliver it."
Scottish Liberal Democrats economy spokesperson Jamie Greene says the Scottish Tories are “too chaotic” under Russell Findlay’s leadership to stand up to the SNP.
Greene resigned from the Conservatives in 2025, accusing Findlay and his leadership of pandering to the far-right in his attempts to compete with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
The Scottish Greens labelled the manifesto as more of the same managed decline leading to more pain for Scotland.
The party's economy spokesperson, Lorna Slater, says: "While the Tories continue to dance to Nigel Farage’s tune by defending Brexit, scapegoating migrants and cutting vital services, their manifesto looks more like managed decline than a bold plan for Scotland's future."
Scottish Labour's deputy leader Jackie Bailliesays the Scottish Tories are "completely irrelevant" and their ambition only stretches to "attempting to deny the SNP a majority".
She insists the election is a straight fight beteween Scottish Labour and the SNP.
Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent
Image source, PA MediaThe Conservative manifesto comes with a separate costings document.
It identifies £1.3bn worth of savings in 2027-28, in part by introducing new restrictions on adult mental health benefit claims (-£592m), introducing a two-child cap for the Scottish Child Payment (-£62m) and cutting the size of the civil service back to 2016 levels (-£54m).
The money would be spent on policies like cutting income tax (£369m), increasing funding for colleges and rural affairs (£108m) and abolishing short term parking charges (£71m).
When it comes to the capital budget, instead of spending money on meeting net zero targets, cycle lanes and active travel, the Tories would invest in speeding up trunk road upgrades (for example, on the A9) and fixing potholes.
Phil Sim
Scotland political correspondent
For all that the Tories are keen to reverse many of the additions the SNP has made to the income tax system, they have suggested an innovation of their own.
That's their proposal to raise the earnings threshold at which people actually start paying income tax.
In theory, the tax-free allowance is set UK wide - it was reserved to Westminster in 1999 in order to maintain a steady definition of what the tax base is across the country, for ease of administration.
But the Tories point out that there's a way to effectively increase it.
You can create a tax band from the top of the current UK tax-free allowance of £12,570, up to whatever point you like (the Tories suggest £13,892), where the rate is 0%.
It hasn't been done before, in part because it's quite expensive.
The party's own costings have their income tax plans - which include a 19p basic rate and a lower threshold for the higher rate - costing £2.7bn a year by 2031-32.
Katy McCloskey
BBC Scotland senior education producer
The Tories say they want to "raise school standards" by scrapping Curriculum for Excellence, ensuring pupils know their times tables and giving headteachers the power to permanently exclude disruptive pupils.
However, it is the commitment to review the approach of mainstreaming which will likely draw most attention.
The party says that children with additional support needs (ASN) "must be supported in the classroom" but that the "presumption of mainstreaming" young people who have additional needs has resulted in "pupils’ learning needs not being met and contributes to disruptive behaviour".
The concept was introduced over 20 years ago, when a more inclusive approach was embraced by educationalists who said it would bring about better outcomes for both children with ASN and children in the wider school community.
However, since then, the number of children with ASN in Scotland has increased vastly and now sits at 43%.
Several reports in recent years have highlighted a lack of resources to support pupils with ASN in mainstream schools.
Lisa Summers
BBC Scotland health correspondent
There are plenty of eye-catching promises on the NHS with big price tags attached.
From creating "Super Saturdays" for routine operations and widening access to weight-loss drugs to ensuring everyone can see a GP within 48 hours.
To do this, the Tories say they will double the proportion of the health budget that goes to family doctors.
For GPs who are booked up weeks in advance and seeing more complex patients, it is unclear how quickly staff can be recruited and capacity increased.
To reduce waiting lists, five national treatment centres, currently on hold, will be built with £70m allocated to increase NHS capacity.
But the cost of one of these centres in Livingston is currently projected to be over £180m.
The Tories oppose current policies on Minimum Unit Pricing on alcohol and plans to reconfigure neonatal services, but many of the broader themes will sound familiar even if the strategies differ.
Ian Hamilton
BBC Scotland senior social affairs reporter
Cash is a central pillar of the Scottish Conservatives' approach to benefits.
Take Adult Disability Payment (ADP). It replaced Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in Scotland four years ago, and can be claimed alongside someone’s salary.
Between March 2022 and the end of January 2026, £6.1bn in ADP has been issued.
There are roughly 498,000 claimants of ADP at the moment, 40% of whom are receiving the benefit for mental and behavioural disorders.
The Conservatives want a rethink; they say it’s “unaffordable, unfair, and unsustainable” to continue this way, and would toughen eligibility for ADP by introducing an assessment for mental health conditions.
Their manifesto says they could save £2bn a year by the end of the Parliament.
Different governments across the UK have tried to tackle welfare spending.
Drawing the line of who is eligible will always be complex.
The Scottish Conservatives want to paint themselves as the party unafraid to take difficult decisions.
With almost half a million ADP clients, will that be a vote winner?
David Henderson
BBC Scotland business correspondent
Economic growth is the Scottish Tories' key goal. Findlay says growing the economy - not "hiking taxes" - will deliver more money to cut NHS waiting lists, raise school standards and fix the potholes.
He's clear the next Scottish government - whoever that is - will face an urgent need to balance the budget through spending cuts or tax rises. His remedy includes cutting what he calls "Scotland's bloated benefits bill".
There's a big focus on delivering income tax cuts for Scots and making energy costs more affordable, as part of an effort to tackle the cost of living crisis. All these plans, he claims, are fully costed – unlike those of his rivals.
Since devolution began, nearly every candidate for first minister has pledged to grow Scotland’s economy as a priority. Making it happen in the next few years could prove very difficult.
David Cowan
BBC Scotland home affairs correspondent
In the 1970s movie "Jaws," police chief Brody glimpses the great white shark and tells his skipper: "You're gonna need a bigger boat."
Under the Scottish Conservatives' manifesto commitments, Scotland is gonna need a bigger prison system.
They promise a “three-convictions-and-it's-jail” policy for serial shoplifters and people committing anti-social behaviour, tougher sentences for sex offenders and mandatory life terms for child rapists.
Killers who refuse to reveal what happened to their victims would face a "no body, no parole" rule.
Whole-life tariffs would guarantee some murderers would die in jail.
Automatic early release for all prisoners would be abolished.
The Conservatives say they’ll fast-track new "no frills" jails, extend existing prisons and send criminals to foreign jails.
The bill will be substantial but the Tories say they'll protect communities and provide justice for victims.
Critics will say Scotland jails far too many people as it is.
Lynsey Bews
BBC Scotland political correspondent
The Tories’ pitch is aimed squarely at workers, pensioners and - perhaps most of all - unionists.
For those paying income tax, the party hopes the promise of a cut to current rates will prove attractive at a time when the cost of living is rising.
And for some pensioners, there’s an eye-catching £500 cash-back offer.
But after outlining those proposals, Russell Findlay returned to a very familiar Tory refrain - opposition to a second independence referendum.
Positioning themselves as the foil to the nationalists’ cause has worked well for the party in past elections.
But with the constitution sitting further down many voters’ priorities lists, will it be an effective tactic again?
Chris Clements
BBC Scotland social affairs correspondent
Over the last decade, control of some welfare benefits has been devolved from Westminster to Holyrood.
The Scottish Conservatives say Scotland now has a “bloated benefits bill” and systems of “light-touch reviews” that will lead to spending of £10bn a year.
The party proposes a two-child limit on the Scottish Child Payment. Introduced in 2021, those on certain benefits received a £10 payment per week per child under 16, before it gradually rose to £28 this month. The Tories say families should only receive this benefit for the first two children.
In addition, the manifesto also proposes restrictions on Discretionary Housing Payments that were introduced to mitigate against the UK’s controversial “bedroom tax” of the 2010s.
The party also says it will reinstate the UK’s old Cold Weather Payment for pensioners, which was replaced by Social Security Scotland, and tie it to average temperatures.
Elsewhere, the Tories echo Reform’s proposals to reinstate the “local connection” criteria for homelessness applicants, tying the issue to asylum seekers and the housing shortages in Glasgow.
Kevin Keane
BBC Scotland environment correspondent
One Scottish Conservative manifesto pledge blows a hole in the UK's commitment to reach "net zero" planet-warming emissions by 2050.
The concern is that tackling climate change involves costs which Scotland "cannot afford," like green heating and electric vehicles.
So it commits to scrapping the target of reaching net-zero by 2045, which is five years ahead of the UK as a whole.
The target was recommended by the independent Climate Change Committee because Scotland's land has the space to plant more trees which absorb carbon dioxide.
What it doesn't require is for average households to switch to green technologies any quicker than in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The targets for each of the home nations are intrinsically linked and so if Scotland doesn't hit the target by 2045, the UK won't hit it by 2050.
At the moment, that would put the UK's climate ambitions behind most of the developed world.
Jamie McIvor
BBC Scotland news correspondent
The Conservatives argue they would free up money so councils can provide local services.
There is no suggestion of seismic changes to council finance, like scrapping the council tax.
Instead they propose giving councils a fixed proportion of the Scottish government's budget. Every year, the amount would go up in line with the overall government budget.
The party also proposes giving councils far more freedom over how to spend their money.
At present, a significant proportion has to be spent on particular aims or objectives agreed between councils and Holyrood.
Some specific policy proposals discuss issues which the party hopes would resonate with voters.
A pothole fund would certainly grab attention but the devil would be in the detail. Many councils have promised "action on potholes" over the years.
Funding to abolish some council car park charges could certainly be attractive to some motorists. But some councils would argue the charges are also designed to help reduce unnecessary car use and congestion.
David Cowan
BBC Scotland home affairs correspondent
Packing off Scottish criminals to foreign prisons is an eye-catching proposal from the Scottish Conservatives, but it could cost a small fortune.
The Tories want to copy Sweden, which has struck an agreement to dispatch up to 600 of its prisoners to a jail in Estonia.
Sweden will stump up £7,395 for each of them every month, compared to £3,928 for housing inmates in a Scottish prison.
If Scotland struck the same deal, that would represent an 88% increase for each prisoner sent overseas.
And if we transported 600 of them to jails abroad, the annual bill would be £53m.
A hefty price tag - and that's before anyone starts talking about human rights.
The idea is undeniably an alternative to releasing prisoners early to ease overcrowding - the route taken by the SNP-run Scottish government - and in the short term it is cheaper than building new jails.
Russell Findlay ended his speech to rousing applause from party members.
He highlighted the party's five key pledges as:
But there is also lots of detail in the 95-page manifesto which he didn't mention. Our correspondents have been poring over it and we'll bring you their takeaways.
If you're just joining us, here are the key lines that emerged from Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay's speech at the launch of his party's manifesto:
