SNP candidate Eilidh Munro has said her party is focused on reducing household costs, as she set out a series of proposals aimed at tackling the cost of living across Scotland.
Standing in Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, she said the SNP is prioritising measures designed to support families, improve access to services and strengthen local communities.
Among the proposals are expanded childcare provision, support with the cost of weekly shopping and improved access to healthcare through walk in GP centres, mobile services and pop up health checks.
The comments come as parties continue to set out contrasting approaches on how to respond to economic pressures facing households.
Munro said the SNP’s position is centred on practical support and long term change.
“The Scottish National Party is firmly on Scotland’s side, we want to bring your bills down.
“Other parties are fighting this election on a platform of ‘stop the SNP’ rather than offering any positive vision of their own.
“For nearly as long as the SNP has been in power, there has not been nearly enough money coming back to Scotland from Westminster, with the financial crash followed by years of Tory-Lib Dem sanctioned austerity which starved our public services of vital resources, then the huge financial damage of Brexit, and then Covid.
“Despite all of this, the SNP has been mitigating what damaging policies it can, protecting people in Scotland, and Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty is falling, rather than rising.”
She also pointed to energy policy as a key area where change is needed.
“We urgently need control over our own energy policy, so that communities here can actually benefit from our vast resources, and so that consumers aren’t exposed to huge spikes in energy prices, and paying more here for standing charges for example as part of the UK’s hugely unfair energy system.”
Munro highlighted the work of current MSP Kate Forbes, who has held the seat since 2016, pointing to developments in schools, healthcare and housing.
“Over the last ten years, Kate Forbes worked effectively with local people, organisations and businesses to see improvement in a number of areas: new schools; new healthcare facilities; new affordable housing; and better infrastructure in areas affected by over-tourism.
“Change has been possible with a hard-working SNP MSP in parliament.”
She also criticised other parties’ positions and campaign approaches.
“Meanwhile, the Lib Dems have attempted to claim credit for changes that they had no credible involvement with, and are promising the world in their election materials with no intention of delivering.
“As a party which will have no more than a handful of MSPs in the next parliament, electing a Liberal Democrat MSP would render our area without an effective voice.
“As a long-standing Tory activist, and recently failed council candidate in Cromarty Firth (over 100 miles away from where he lives), the Lib Dem candidate for this seat unfortunately seems to be pursuing political clout at the expense of any principles.
“Reform, the Tories and Labour all continue to be obsessed with immigration, trying to divide our communities, while Labour in government were elected on a platform of positive change which they have failed spectacularly to deliver.
“More funding cuts and broken promises, with energy bills hundreds of pounds higher than when they were elected.
“A vote for the SNP is a vote to prioritise the needs of the people of Scotland, and the hope of a better, independent future outside of broken Britain.”
The comments reflect the wider political debate taking place across Scotland, where parties are setting out competing plans on the economy, public services and constitutional change.
For voters in the Highlands, issues such as energy costs, healthcare access and local infrastructure remain central to the campaign.
