SNP would set maximum price for essential foods, says Swinney as he fears costs affecting nutrition in Scotland – UK politics live | Politics
Swinney says SNP would set maximum prices for essential food items, using public health powers, on nutrition grounds
Swinney says people are struggling to afford food. That is an “outrage”, he says.
He cannot set prices at the till, he says.
But he says the Scottish government does have powers over public health. He goes on:
It is now impacting on our nation’s nutrition. That is a public health issue and I have public health powers, so I can answer today that, if re-elected, your SNP government will use our public health powers to set a maximum price for essential food items, reducing the price of the weekly shop, putting more money in people’s pockets.
Bread. Milk. Cheese. Eggs. Rice. Chicken. Everyday items that make up a decent diet. Necessities that no one should ever have beyond their means. That’s what you get with a government on Scotland side.
Key events
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Keir Starmer has told social media bosses “things can’t go on like this” in a Downing Street meeting over internet safety, Dan Milmo and Kiran Stacey report.
Streeting says welfare budget should be reduced, suggesting savings could fund higher defence spending
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has said the government wants to cut the welfare bill.
He made the comment in an interview on LBC where he suggested that he would like savings from the benefits budget to be used to fund higher defence spending.
In a speech on Tuesday night, George Robertson, the former defence secretary and former Nato secretary general who led the government’s strategic defence review, called for a big increase in military spending, saying the government “cannot defend Britain with an ever-expanding welfare budget”.
In his interview, Streeting implied he agreed. He said:
Yes, we do need to put more money into defence. We have been putting more money into defence, but we will need more.
Asked if he accepted that welfare spending needed to be cut, Streeting said:
We definitely want to reduce the welfare budget.
Asked if the money should go on defence, Streeting said that was a matter for the chancellor, Rachel Reeves. But he went on:
Just to say that when the chancellor is making decisions, I have no doubt, both from the judgments she’s made and also from the evidence that we’re confronted with, that defence will be much higher on her list of priorities than many of her predecessors.
Streeting did not say what he meant by cutting the welfare budget, or what benefits he would target. Taking a wide definition of what counts as welfare, total government spending under this category is more than £300bn. When politicians talk about cuts, sometime they mean reductions in overall spending, and sometimes they mean reducing the rate at which spending is projected to increase.
The government is particularly concerned about the large rise in the number of young people claiming health and disability benefits, and it wants to arrest this trend and get more of this cohort into work.
But, while ministers have been happy to say they want to curb the rate at which welfare spending in this area is going up, they have been more wary about committing to overall cuts in total welfare spending. And last year, when the government proposed measures to get spending on disability benefits, it had to back down in a painful U-turn.
A&E waiting times in England narrowly miss improvement target for March, despite reaching 5-year low, NHS figures show
The government and NHS has missed its target on four-hour waits in emergency departments in England, the Press Association reports. PA says:
Health secretary Wes Streeting said the target was “within touching distance” and insisted that the NHS is “finally moving in the right direction”.
Data published this morning shows that 77.1% of patients in England were seen within four hours in A&E departments last month, up from 74.1% in February.
The government and NHS England had set an interim target of March 2026 for 78% of patients attending A&E to be admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours.
In recent years, the health service has set interim goals for the four-hour standard to bridge the gap between current performance and the 95% target.
Streeting said: “Despite record pressures and strikes, we have come within a cat’s whisker of the ambitious targets we set ourselves. But it’s not enough. There are still too many patients waiting far too long. The NHS is on the road to recovery, and my foot is pressing down hard on the accelerator.”
Speaking to LBC, Streeting said the target was “within touching distance”, adding: “I’m very competitive, and so I’m frustrated because I wanted to kind of come in ahead.
“But the fact is, I mean, regardless of all of that – and I definitely want to give credit to the staff here – we have nonetheless, got the best ambulance response times we’ve seen in half a decade, waiting lists at the lowest levels in three years, and the best A&E performance in four, so at least the NHS is finally moving in the right direction.”
The waiting list for routine hospital treatment fell for the fourth month in a row, the figures show. (See 10.06am.)
In its news release on today’s figures, NHS England said that, despite the March 2026 target being missed, A&E waiting times were at a five-year low.
Swinney urges other party leaders to join him in ruling out any post-election cooperation with Reform UK
Q: What lessons to you take from the Hungarian election about standing up to the far right?
Swinney said:
I think the key lesson is that you’ve got to stand up to the far right openly, strongly, setting out your values, seeing how you apply your values to all of your decisions. And my values are for a tolerant, inclusive, welcoming Scotland. That’s the antithesis of what Reform and the far right represent in Scotland.
And I make it abundantly clear today that under no circumstances will I engage in any cooperation or collaboration with Reform in any way, shape or form in the next parliament.
And I think it would be a good thing if other people were much clearer on that question.
That was the final question in the Q&A.
Q: What will you do if the Westminster government refuses to approve another referendum?
Swinney said in 2011 it was accepted that an SNP majority would mean Scotland was entitled to hold a referendum. “That’s exactly the precedent I want to rely upon,” he said.
Q: Won’t your plan for a price cap on essential food mean less income for farmers? And if the cap applies to supermarkets, not corner shops, won’t that encourage people to go to supermarkets, puttinng corner shops out of business?
Swinney said, as someone who represented a rural part of Scotland, he was familiar with these issues. He said the SNP was working hard to protect farmers.
And he said the Scottish government had other measures in places to help small businesses.
Q: There does not seem to be anything in the manifesto about having a presumption against new oil and gas developments in the North Sea. Does that mean that the previous policy (opposing new developments) has been dropped?
Swinney said any new proposal would have to go through a climate compatibility assessment before being approved.
Q: How far would you be able to go for £2 under the plan for a £2 cap?
Swinney said that would apply for one journey.
Swinney says SNP will ensure most Scots continue to pay less than if they were living in England
Q: Can you commit to not raising taxes in any circumstances over the next five years? And why don’t you want to narrow the tax gap between Scotland and the rest of the UK?
Swinney said he operated in the real world, and had to respond to events as they happened.
But he said he did not accept the premise of the question. He explained:
The manifesto includes the commitment that the majority of income taxpayers continue to pay less tax than if they lived in the rest of the United Kingdom. And that’s what the position is at this time. And that’s what we’ll continue in the period to come.
Q: Your price cap policy would be a big intervention in the free market. Do you believe in free market principles?
Swinney replied:
I do support the free market, but sometimes you have to intervene in markets to protect people. And that’s what I’m simply doing here.
It’s a limited intervention with a very focused purpose, which is driven by public health concerns that we have.
Q: Do you see your plan for price caps on essential food items as a temporary measure, or would be it permanent?
Swinney says there would be a sunset clause in the legislation, so it would be time limited.
Q: In the past trying to control prices has led to inflation. Are you worried about that?
Swinney says his policy would only apply to the prices of essential items. It would not cover all prices. So he does not see that being a problem, he says.
Q: Nigel Farage has said (in this interview) he would be open to letting Scotland having a second independence referendum. Does that mean your best interests are served by a Reform UK government in London, not a Labour government?
Good try, says Swinney. He says the best way to get independence is to vote SNP in Scotland.
Swinney says plan for maximum prices for essential food items would only apply to supermarkets, not smaller shops
Q: Will your plan for maximum prices for essential foods just apply to supermarkets, or will it apply to smaller shops too? Those shops are already struggling.
Swinney says he would consult on this, but the intention is for the policy to apply just to supermarkets, “who can take the financial strain of that particular issue”.
