The Liberal Democrats are planning a fresh raid on the pay packets of thousands of workers, the Scottish Conservatives said today.

Previously, the party had supported an income tax cut to help struggling families and put cash in the pockets of those who needed it the most.

But last night, the party leader backtracked and confirmed they’d be seriously looking at raising income tax.

Speaking on Scotland Tonight Willie Rennie said: “That’s something we’re seriously considering because of the hammer blow the SNP are going to deal to the education sector in Scotland, we need to seriously look at getting Scotland fit for the future.”

He added: “We’re seriously going to look at it. It’s going to be modest, it’s going to be reasonable and it is going to be costed.”

The Scottish Conservatives are the only party committed to not increasing income tax when those powers come to Holyrood through the Scotland Bill.

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw said:

"Many people who formerly voted LibDem in the belief they were a moderate force on tax will be rightly dismayed by Willie Rennie's comments.

“There is no reason why people in Scotland should pay more in tax than people elsewhere in the UK. Yet Mr Rennie is now preparing to join Jeremy Corbyn on the left by advocating a fresh raid on pay packets. It isn't fair or justified.

"It's also yet another LibDem flip flop. At the last Holyrood election, the Lib Dems were proposing an income tax cut. Now Mr Rennie is proposing the exact opposite.

"It only goes to show that when it comes to family finances and Scotland's security, the only party you can trust to stick by its principles is the Scottish Conservatives."​

Ends

Notes to editors

In 2008, the Scottish LibDems proposed a tax cut: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7614646.stm​

Transcript from Scotland Tonight 11/1/16: http://player.stv.tv/summary/scotland-tonight/

Keith Brown MSP: So would you increase the tax Willie?

Willie Rennie: “That’s something we’re seriously considering because of the hammer blow the SNP are going to deal to the education sector in Scotland, we need to seriously look at getting Scotland fit for the future. That means looking at the new tax powers coming to Scotland, so we can invest in our kids, in that pupil premium I talked about, in the nursery education where the SNP have failed miserably. We need to make that investment for the future, so that is something we’re going to come up with, within our costed plan.”

John MacKay: Does this mean a potential tax increase Willie Rennie, yes?

Willie Rennie: “We’re seriously going to look at it. It’s going to be modest, it’s going to be reasonable and it is going to be costed. Just like we’ve always done, because we managed to raise the tax thresholds when we were in power at Westminster it’s much more simple to impose a tax on income because we protect those at the bottom end of the income scale. That’s something we’re seriously going to look at because of the budget blow that the SNP are going to impact upon on our schools. I think it’s terribly important that we consider that investment for the future of our children.”