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by Staff reporter
20 April 2016
RISE manifesto 2016: key points

RISE manifesto 2016: key points

Left wing alliance RISE uses the 2014 independence referendum as its springboard, claiming that while Scotland’s politics during the campaign, too much has stayed the same since.

Having grown out of the Radical Independence Campaign, RISE advocates a socialist path to independence, starting with a resolution tabled if an MSP from the alliance is elected to Holyrood.

“The Scottish Parliament resolves to assert its right to mandate to call for and achieve a second referendum on independence” it would say.


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In a manifesto containing a few errors – including the date of the 2014 referendum – RISE advocates raising the additional rate of income tax to 60p and changing the upper band to 45p, starting at £50,000.

The council tax would be replaced by a Scottish Service Tax, the model of local income tax advocated by the Scottish Socialist Party in the past. It would be combined with a tax on land value.

The group would also tax whisky at £1 a bottle at the production stage.

The groups says it will oppose Westminster spending cuts and introducing a £10 minimum wage, ultimately working towards a universal basic income.

Equality for women, ethnic minorities, LGBTI+ groups, youth and pensioners all feature heavily in the manifesto, with each getting their own section

Carers get a whole section in the manifesto to themselves, with RISE promising a living income for currently unpaid carers at a cost of £1.78bn a year.

The single police force would be disbanded and replaced with forces accountable to local communities.

An Economic Justice Fund would provide support to those appealing against benefits assessment of sanction.

In education RISE supports greater autonomy for teachers and opposes standardised testing in primary schools. Cuts to Colleges should be reversed, it says.

Public Transport should be nationalised into a universal – and eventually free – National Mass Transit System, according to RISE. The group would start by capping fares. Fracking would be banned

Strict rent controls are advocated, and a new National Unitary Authority would coordinate and manage a 100,000 house building programme.

Finally, RISE MSPs would only accept the average wage of a skilled worker and serve a maximum of two consecutive terms.

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