First Minister's taxation claim evidence and correspondence: FOI release

Information requested

1. What evidence the Scottish Government has to substantiate the claim made by the First Minister on 13 November 2025 that: ‘we’ve maintained our manifesto commitments in relation to taxation’.

2. All correspondence between the First Minister, Senior Civil Servants and Special Advisers regarding this claim since 13 November 2025. This should include emails, letters, instant messages, meetings (and their minutes) and phone calls.

Response

Question 1

The answer to your question was set out by the First Minister in a meeting of Parliament on 27th November 2025. I have included an extract of the relevant passage below and the link to the official report is available here: Meeting of the Parliament: 27/11/2025 | Scottish Parliament Website Extract from official report 27/11:

We set out our manifesto position in 2021, but we said that we had to be mindful of the economic context. The economic context has been fundamentally changed by two things: first, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which led to a spike in inflation and a massive increase in public sector costs; and, secondly, the absolute rank and total stupidity of the Liz Truss budget, which Russell Findlay supported. That is what changed the landscape.

Question 2

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because having conducted a search of our records no correspondence specifically between the First Minister, Senior Civil Servants, or Special Advisors could be identified.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

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