The SNP will include a social tariff on energy, broadband and mobile bills in its manifesto this week, John Swinney has said.

The proposal will see those on low incomes, with disabilities and the elderly pay less on their bills, with the party suggesting they be cut in half.

The First Minister spoke to a crowd in Stornoway in the Western Isles on Monday where he unveiled the plan ahead of the SNP manifesto being published on Wednesday.

The proposal would be funded by a mixture of general taxation and “an obligation” the profits of energy companies, with the party claiming the cost would be about £7.8bn for the present year.

The First Minister said his party wants to update entitlements “for the 21st century”.

“This community is wrestling with some of the highest levels of fuel poverty in our country, it is literally unbearable for people, despite the fact that this community is producing vast amounts of renewable energy,” he said.

“At the heart of our manifesto will be that commitment, that we will argue for a social tariff funded by general taxation and by the power companies which will reduce the costs for those who are vulnerable in our society and give them a material contribution to reducing the cost of living.”

But that should go further, he said.

“Today, none of us really can operate without connectivity, access to broadband, access to telecoms, so many public services are delivered by that mechanism as well.

“So we’re going to propose that the social tariff extends also to broadband and telecoms costs, so that people are liberated of the excessive burden and they’re able to access public services and their wider communication in society, because they have got a tariff that is appropriate for meeting their circumstances.”

Nigel Farage launched Reform UK's manifesto - which he referred to as a contract - in Wales on Monday with a policy-packed agenda.

It unveiled a host of sweeping tax cuts and savings from the government, as well as strict policies on immigration and the scrapping of climate targets.

Reform UK wants to:

• Reduce net migration to zero
• Fast-track North Sea oil and gas licences
• Scarp net zero targets, which the party claims will save £30bn a year
• Stop the boats crossing the English Channel within 100 days of the election
• Introduce huge tax cuts, including raising the minimum threshold of income tax to £20,000 a year, abolishing inheritance tax for estates under £2m, abolishing stamp duty and reducing inheritance tax 
• Defence spending at 3% within six years
• Leave the European Court of Human Rights

The Scottish Liberal Democrats launched their general election manifesto on Monday with a focus on care and agriculture.

Some of the policies the party has outlined, such as those on the NHS, social care and education, are devolved to Holyrood, meaning they are not the responsibility of MPs.

Here are some of the key pledges from the Scottish LibDems:

• £500m rescue package to fix Scotland's 'broken' care system
• New £12/hour carers' minimum wage - up 
• Uplifting the Carer's Allowance and Carer Support Payment by £1,040 a year
• Fast access for pupils seeing a mental health counsellor and more mental health staff in the NHS with quicker access to GPs, both backed by a £150m tax on social media giants
  
• £170m for Scottish agriculture
• Insulate homes to reduce energy bills
• Double statutory maternity and shared parental pay to £350 a week with an extra month leave for fathers and partner

Party leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has said the UK LibDem manifesto, launched last week, would mean an extra £1.5bn for the Scottish Government.

He said his party would encourage SNP ministers to "lift up Scottish education".

Cole-Hamilton said additional money through the Barnett formula should also be used to tackle the housing emergency and local health facilities. 

The full Scottish LibDem manifesto can be found here.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are aiming to “leap forward” at the General Election , Alex Cole-Hamilton said as he launched the party's manifesto.

He said the LibDems would “make the difference” and be the real opposition to a potential Labour government.

Launching the manifesto at Craigie’s Farm in Queensferry on Monday, the party leader was joined his deputy Wendy Chamberlain who said the party will “take the opportunities” to hold Westminster parties to account.

The manifesto includes plans to introduce a carer’s minimum wage with a £2 an hour boost.

It also includes many devolved issues including fast-tracking access to mental health counsellors in schools.

An additional £1bn in capital funding would come to Scotland through Barnett consequentials which can be used to tackle the housing emergency and local health facilities, Mr Cole-Hamilton said.

Speaking at Craigie Farm, he said: “There’s going to be strong liberal voices returned in significant numbers – and they are going to be – we’re going to have a big leap forward at this election and are going to make that difference.

“This election has shown there is an intrinsic link between what happens in Westminster and what happens in Scotland and a lot of the policies that we’re generating cash from, whether that’s by trebling the digital services tax on social media giants who create so much harm experienced by our young people right now. 

"We want to see that earmarked for mental health services in Scotland.”

Alex Cole-Hamilton tried his hand at driving a tractor on Monday.

The Scottish LibDem leader is at a farm in Queensferry for the launch of his party's manifesto.

Alex Salmond says his Alba Party will be the only one to include a strategy for delivering Scottish independence in its election manifesto – as he claimed the approach taken by his former party on the issue was a mystery that even Sherlock Holmes could not solve.

The former Scottish first minister hit out at the SNP as he insisted that Alba had “emerged as the only party seeking an independence mandate at each and every election”.

SNP policy on independence – agreed by the party at its conference in October last year – sets out that “page one, line one” of its manifesto will state: “Vote SNP for Scotland to become an independent country.”

It adds that if the SNP wins a majority of the seats at the General Election in Scotland, the Scottish Government will be “empowered to begin immediate negotiations with the UK Government to give democratic effect to Scotland becoming an independent country”.

But Alba – one of the three main pro-independence parties in Scotland, along with the SNP and Scottish Greens – has already accused John Swinney’s party of “hoisting the white flag” on independence after the SNP failed to include any mention of this on ballot papers for the July 4 election.

Claiming that the Scottish Greens were looking for “potential deals” with Labour after the next Holyrood election in 2026, Salmond said his party had become the “natural home for independence supporters”.

The Alba leader criticised his former party, saying: “Sherlock Holmes could not solve the mystery of the SNP approach to independence. It is an enigma without a solution.”

Fuel duty relief for rural motorists should be expanded to 20 new areas as part of a “real rescue plan” to support communities, according to Sir Ed Davey.

The Liberal Democrats suggested that Devon, Cornwall, Cumbria, Shropshire, Yorkshire in England, along with rural parts of Scotland and Wales, could be included in the expanded rural fuel duty relief programme.

The scheme supports motorists by compensating fuel retailers in 21 rural areas, including the Isles of Scilly and the Northern Isles, with high road fuel prices.

Retailers can apply for relief of 5p per litre of petrol or diesel, which is then passed on to motorists through price reductions at the pump.

Anas Sarwar has said that “momentum is with Scottish Labour”, ahead of the launch of his party’s election battle bus in South Queensferry on Monday.

The Scottish Labour leader described the General Election as an “opportunity for change”, and said his party would deliver a pay raise for the 200,000 lowest-paid in Scotland and 160,000 more NHS appointments.

With three weeks to go until the election on July 4, Sarwar said people were “crying out for change”, and said a vote for Scottish Labour was the way to “make sure” this happened.

Sarwar said: “This election is an opportunity for change that Scots cannot afford to miss and it is clear that the momentum is with Scottish Labour.

“People are tired of this rotten Tory government and are crying out for change.

“Our battle bus will take our message of change to the people of Scotland.

“A Labour government with Scottish Labour MPs at its heart will deliver a pay rise for the 200,000 lowest-paid Scots, 160,000 more NHS appointments to tackle waiting times and publicly-owned energy headquartered in Scotland to deliver jobs and cut bills.

“The way we make sure we get rid of this rotten Tory government is by voting Scottish Labour on July 4 – to deliver a Labour government with Scotland at its heart.”

SNP leader John Swinney is expected to say that the SNP is the only major party with a “truly left-of-centre manifesto” in a speech at a campaign event in Stornoway on Monday.

The First Minister is expected to say that his party’s plans stand in “stark contrast” to the “Thatcherite economic policies” of the Conservatives and Labour, who, he will say, offer only “cuts, austerity and stagnation”.

He is also expected to say that Labour under Sir Keir Starmer has “run a mile” from its founding values, putting it at odds with the centre-left tradition of the majority of people in Scotland.

The SNP manifesto is expected to include plans for investment in public services, protections for the NHS, the reversal of Brexit, and support for families struggling through the cost-of-living crisis.

Swinney is expected to say: “This week is when the choice before the people of Scotland becomes clear.

“The SNP will publish our alternative to the Westminster status quo. A vision of hope for Scotland’s future, against the continuation of despair on offer from Labour and the Tories.

“Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are wedded to the same Thatcherite economic policies – offering only cuts, austerity and stagnation.

“The bold and positive vision we will publish will stand in stark contrast to the dismal Labour and Tory offerings promising more of the same.

“We are the only major party in this election publishing a truly left-of-centre manifesto – and that is exactly why we are feeling so positive about this campaign.

“That centre-left political tradition is where the vast majority of people in Scotland sit."

The Scottish Liberal Democrats will launch its manifesto on Monday.

Leader Alex Cole-Hamilton will join his deputy Wendy Chamberlain with the two promising a fairer deal for Scots.

The UK party launched its manifesto last week with a focus on England's NHS and social care.

Ed Davey, who leads the party, said he would rejoin the EU and give 16 and 17-year-olds the vote.

Cole-Hamilton said the UK manifesto would mean another £1.5bn for Holyrood as it seeks to raise taxes from banks, big tech companies and the wealthy.

You can read more about that here.