SNP's 100 broken promises show why Scotland needs a new government

The SNP’s 2021 manifesto pledges are so at odds with what they actually delivered that it reads like science fiction

In 2021, the SNP manifesto set out plans for an NHS app. Soon, the manifesto promised, patients would be able to access their health services and check their own health information through “MyNHS, a safe, simple and secure app”.

Four years on and three Health Secretaries later, after no sign of MyNHS, First Minister John Swinney finally announced the pilot of an app in NHS Lanarkshire. Meanwhile, patients are still speed-dialling their GPs at 8am to try to get an appointment.

Just as we are still waiting on MyNHS, we are also waiting on free bikes and digital devices for children, a National Care Service, legislation to tackle misogyny, and a Women's Business Centre – all promised in the 2021 SNP manifesto.

John Swinney delivers a statement about his Programme for Government to MSPs (Picture: Jane Barlow) | PA

Ideas nicked from Labour

Of course we all want a future where we can get medical help with the touch of a button and everyone has an equal chance to thrive. But compared with the SNP’s record, the 2021 manifesto is less like a blueprint for government and more a work of science fiction.

Swinney set out the SNP’s Programme for Government in what is the last year of the period covered by the 2021 manifesto. It was mostly a rehash of existing pledges – while the plans to end 8am waits for GP appointments and scrap peak rail fares were nicked from Scottish Labour.

READ MORE: Peak ScotRail fares to be scrapped 'for good' by SNP government

But behind Swinney lies a string of at least 100 broken promises. Not delivering on promises to increase GPs and police officers – the numbers have fallen instead. Missing the target to end long NHS waits, with over 100,000 Scots stuck on waiting lists for over a year.

Dropping plans to reform Council Tax, creating uncertainty for taxpayers and local authorities alike. Scrapping the Green Jobs Fund and ditching legally binding climate targets. Like clockwork, headline-grabbing plans are made and abandoned, and ambitious targets are set and missed.

Blame-shifting

No doubt Swinney’s supporters would point to the chaos he inherited after Nicola Sturgeon resigned and Humza Yousaf presided over the break-up with the Greens. But Swinney has been at the heart of the SNP’s 18-year long administration. He’s there, smiling broadly, in the opening pages of the 2021 manifesto.

Swinney was the Education Secretary who failed to close the attainment gap, the Finance Secretary who refused to reform Council Tax, and he is now the First Minister responsible for the last year’s U-turns.

Expecting Swinney to fix the problems he created is as convincing as a cowboy builder getting called in to repair his own work. What the SNP has perfected over its nearly two decades in power is spin.

We can expect that, in the months leading up to May 7, 2026, the SNP will crank up its dream machine. More apps that will not appear, more unrealistic targets, more unfunded funds. We would be asking for our money back if this was the record of a commercial company.

So why is it acceptable when coming from the Scottish Government? No party should have a monopoly on power. For the next 364 days, Scottish Labour will hold the SNP accountable for what it has promised Scottish voters.

And in a year’s time, it will be Scotland’s chance to hold the SNP responsible.

Jackie Baillie is MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader and her party’s spokesperson for health