How will the parties boost the Scottish economy?

At Westminster, we will demand fresh support for businesses to grow, to boost productivity and to boost incomes through a real Living Wage.

The biggest challenge to our economy in the next parliament is the Tory plan for an extreme Brexit. We will stand up against any attempt to trade away Scotland’s industries in Brexit negotiations.

We will fight for Single Market membership and demand new powers, so we can continue to encourage the best and brightest from around the world to make Scotland their home, and contribute to our economy and society.

The oil and gas industry is a prime example of the difference SNP MPs can make. It was only after consistent pressure from the SNP that the Chancellor offered the industry some limited and overdue support.

We’ll keep up the pressure for the further support which is urgently needed – in oil and gas, and across the economy.

We will call for targeted support to businesses to take on new workers by doubling the Employment Allowance, and we’ll call for the further extension of the Investment Allowance to drive up investment and productivity.

At the heart of our manifesto is a plan to end austerity while repairing public finances – halting further social security cuts, ending the freeze on working age benefits, increasing investment in public services and protecting family budgets.

Only with a strong group of SNP MPs can we protect Scotland from the dangers of an unopposed Tory government at Westminster."

Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour economy spokesperson

UNLIKE the SNP and the Tories, who are now both obsessed with the constitution, the Labour Party's aspiration is to grow the economy, create an economy that is inclusive and that works for the many.

We have had seven years of Tory austerity and a decade of SNP mismanagement. This has led to a declining economy, business confidence is down and there is a cost of living crisis. Working families across our country are £1,400 a year worse off as a result and wages have declined in real terms.

And with another five years of Tory government things will only get worse. Theresa May’s plans for a hard Brexit would be devastating for our economy, threatening jobs and investment by taking us out of the European single market.

Worse still, the SNP’s obsession with independence would be even more damaging to our economy. They want to break up our country and take Scotland out of our most important single market – the United Kingdom. Businesses need certainty and they are not getting that with either government.

Labour offers a different path. We will increase the National Living Wage to £10 per hour, directly benefiting half a million people in Scotland.

A Labour government will also ban zero hour contracts, ending insecure work for 60,000 Scots.

And we will always fight to keep Scotland part of the United Kingdom, preventing the turbo-charged austerity that independence would result in.

Only a vote for Labour on June 8 can deliver a Labour government that works for the many, not the few."

Scottish Conservative shadow economy secretary, Dean Lockhart:

After a decade of SNP decline, Scotland’s economy is currently heading into recession. Recent figures show that Scotland’s economy under the SNP declined by 0.2 per cent while the rest of the UK, under a Conservative government, expanded by 0.7 per cent.

Scotland’s economy under the SNP has now under-performed the rest of the UK economy in eight out of the 10 years. What does this tell us? The fact is that the SNP does not understand how the economy works.

The SNP has made Scotland the highest-taxed part of the UK for workers and business. Under the SNP wage increases, business confidence, employment rates and productivity levels in Scotland are all lower compared to elsewhere in the UK.

According to the SNP, Brexit justifies a second independence referendum. The economic reality is that only 16 per cent of Scotland’s exports go to the EU while 65 per cent of our trade is with the rest of the UK.

"The SNP wants Independence in Europe – to leave the UK Single Market. To prioritise a market that represents only 16 per cent of our trade – at the expense of our single largest market, the rest of the UK which accounts for 65 per cent of trade.

Under new powers now residing with the Scottish Parliament the future growth of the Scottish economy will determine how much money the Scottish Government has to spend on public services. That’s why it’s more important than ever to have a strong Scottish economy. After Labour’s Great Recession and the SNP’s economic decline, there is only one party to trust with the economy – the Scottish Conservatives.’’

Scottish Green economy spokesperson Patrick Harvie, candidate for Glasgow North:

WHILE the other parties are sticking with a failed economic model, Greens have a plan to create 200,000 new jobs in lasting industries.

High quality employment that respects environmental limits should be the foundation of our prosperity. Rather than throwing multinationals yet more tax breaks to extract unburnable oil and gas we should be investing in North Sea decommissioning.

By reversing the Tories’ slash-and-burn approach to Scotland’s renewables industry we can make the most of our abundant clean energy resources. By investing in green industrialisation we can build resilient local economies.

We want to see a network of local banks to serve the people and lend to low-carbon enterprise. Financial institutions which gamble on speculation should face a financial transactions tax, which could raise billions for public services.

We must end the scandal of working poverty. Exploitative zero-hours contracts should be abolished and the Tories’ anti-trades union agenda must be rolled back.

Closing the gender pay gap should be a priority and we must ensure everyone is paid a real living wage of at least £10 per hour by 2020. Minimum wage bands which discriminate against young people must be scrapped.

To improve productivity in our economy, we need to move towards a 35-hour working week. And with a Basic Income – a universal payment for all, rather than the current mean-spirited approach to benefits, we can reduce poverty and give people the security to change jobs and start up new businesses.

A Green economy is a jobs-rich economy.

Scottish Liberal Democrat general election campaign manager, Alex Cole-Hamilton:

BRITAIN needs a sustainable and balanced economy, not just to help fund public services but because growth and enterprise create jobs and opportunities for all.

The actions of the Conservatives have undermined the input of the LibDems in our time in government to fix the economy.

They have chosen to risk the long-term future of our economy by limiting vital spending on infrastructure and creating an over-reliance on consumer spending fuelled by debt to prop up growth. Above all, their disastrous determination to pursue an extreme Brexit casts a shadow over our economic future.

Scotland is teetering on the brink of recession, and the UK economy is patchy and unbalanced. The Liberal Democrats will put in place a sustainable economy that works for the long term: prosperous, green, open and fair.

To do this we will oppose Corporation Tax cuts and help everyone to earn a decent living by establishing an independent review on how to set a genuine living wage across all sectors, as well as stamping out abuse of zero hours contracts to help everyone across the country share in prosperity.

We will end the 1 per cent pay cap on the public sector, lifting the pay for 540,000 public sector workers in Scotland.

We want to boost the economy by initiating a major £100 billion programme of capital investment aimed at stimulating growth across all areas of the UK.

We will prioritise assistance to areas heavily dependent on fossil fuel industries, such as the north east of Scotland, to support the industry to maximise its sustainability, including decommissioning and ultimately to diversify the economy when that sustainability comes to an end.

UKIP Scotland leader David Coburn MEP:

UKIP Scotland wants to encourage Scots to stay in Scotland, build their businesses and employ their fellow Scots. The SNP government is wasting taxpayers’ money while the budget deficit is exploding.

Labour, LibDems, Tories and SNP are making extravagant promises on welfare which they cannot possibly fulfil while we are already running a £15bn annual deficit.

Ukip Scotland was the only party to be in favour of Brexit. By leaving the European Union and the Single Market we will be able to make our own beneficial global trading agreements. We can reclaim our 200-mile Scottish fishing grounds and support the whisky industry which will create many new jobs.

We want to restore incentives for workers and entrepreneurs by cutting taxes and unnecessary red tape. The Scottish Government currently charges a higher rate of Income Tax than the rest of the UK which is unfair on Scottish workers

Ukip Scotland wants to bring the entrepreneurial spirit back to Scotland. Having business tax rates that are disproportionately higher compared to England is creating a comparative disadvantage for our own economy by creating an unnecessary barrier for businesses wanting to set up in Scotland.

We want to lower these business taxes thus allowing companies to reinvest their money back into their business and to encourage the local economy and trade.

What Scotland needs is not a second independence referendum. Ukip is the only way towards a more prosperous Scotland."