Following yesterday's launch of a fantasy manifesto from a fantasy party - the Labour Party's Scottish accounting unit - today a real Scottish political party launched its manifesto.

First Minister John Swinney launched the SNP's manifesto at a campaign event in Edinburgh.

On the very first page of the manifesto, it says - Vote SNP for Scotland to become an independent country.

The SNP manifesto is easily the most left-wing of the three main parties contesting the election in Scotland.

READ MORE: Everything the SNP manifesto says about Scottish independence

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves boasted that the fingerprints of bankers in the City of London were all over Labour's centre-right pro-Brexit austerity offering.

The Tories have gone off the deep end of right-wing insanity in what looks set to be a failed bid to fend off Nigel Farage.

The bar for left-wing credentials has been set low.

The SNP are the only major party demanding that Westminster must respect the democratic will of the people of Scotland as expressed during the Holyrood elections of May 2021 and agree to a second independence referendum.

It is also the only major party in Scotland talking about the massive act of political and economic self-harm that is Brexit.

Labour and the Tories are both seeking to brush Brexit under the carpet.

Indeed, in an off-the-charts example of political hypocrisy, in "Scottish Labour's" manifesto published on Tuesday Brexit is scarcely mentioned.

Labour says it recognises "how damaging the thin Brexit deal done by the Conservatives has been for Scottish businesses and communities," before going on to add that a Labour government won't do anything about it except for a vague unspecified promise to "make Brexit work". Presumably by wishes and fairy dust.

The SNP manifesto on the other hand contains a clear commitment to rejoin the EU, reverse the damage of Brexit, and re-enter the single market – restoring free movement for EU citizens.

On foreign policy, the manifesto also calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, release of hostages, and ending arms sales to Israel.

The SNP also calls on the UK Government to immediately recognise Palestine as an independent state. This is much further than the mealy-mouthed Keir Starmer (below) has gone.

(Image: PA)

On independence, the party pledges to deliver independence to strengthen our economy, tackle the cost of living, and bring about a fairer country.

The party claims that if it wins the election in Scotland in terms of seats won - the usual criteria for determining the winner of a Westminster election, it will open negotiations with the British Government for a second independence referendum.

Speaking at the launch of the SNP’s manifesto, the First Minister said he believed his party already had a mandate for independence from the pro-Yes majority delivered by the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections.

However, this manifesto pledge risks being seen as a downgrading of the previous promise to use this election to seek a mandate for independence itself.

Since that 2021 mandate was rebuffed by Westminster even though the pro-independence parties won that election handsomely, it will be even easier for the victor of the general election to ignore SNP demands.

The First Minister refused to be drawn on how he would respond if the SNP won the general election in Scotland, but Westminster continues to stonewall on the referendum question.

Domestically the SNP want the immediate abolition of the two-child cap on benefits, which has been responsible for a huge surge in the numbers of children living in poverty.

Labour refuses to commit to abolishing this cruel Tory measure on the grounds of cost even as it commits to billions of pounds of spending on new nuclear subs and refuses to countenance raising taxes on the better off.

In Scotland, the Scottish child payment introduced by the SNP has raised thousands of children out of poverty.

Professor Danny Dorling described the Scottish Child Payment as the single policy intervention that has created the largest fall in child poverty anywhere in Europe for at least 40 years.

Yet this remarkable Scottish Government success story has been all but ignored by the media in Scotland.

The SNP has also demanded a huge boost to spending on the NHS in England, which would result in Barnett consequentials in the form of an additional £1 billion of funding for NHS Scotland.

Austerity will only continue under Labour, Swinney attacked Labour for backing Tory fiscal rules that would require £18bn in spending cuts.

This piece is an extract from today’s REAL Scottish Politics newsletter, which is emailed out at 7pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Wee Ginger Dug.

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