Now it is also going to increase the Scottish child payment to £40 a week for children under the age of one. Many of these, plus the other goodies, are designed with the Scottish elections in May in mind. It could also be viewed as an attempt to derail Americans from visiting Donald Trump's Scottish golf courses. No economic growthThe latest Scottish budget merely slices an ever-smaller cake. The Scottish system, introduced in 2011, cost £1.5bn in 2023, suggesting that if the SNP aligned with the UK on prescriptions they'd save around £150m.

Source: The Herald January 15, 2026 06:35 UTC