Health bosses in Tayside and Fife would have to make £73m worth of cuts under Scottish Conservative tax plans, the SNP has claimed.
Nicola Sturgeon told First Minister’s Questions last week that implementing Tory income tax proposals would slash NHS funding by £500m a year.
In figures published by her party, Tayside would have £39m less to play with every year, compared with £34m at Fife, which would fund the equivalent of 1,757 nurses in Courier Country.
The Conservatives said the claims are “ridiculous” and their policy, which is to keep the income tax at the UK level or lower, will increase revenue by kick-starting the economy.
Graeme Dey, the SNP MSP for Angus South, said making those on higher wages pay “slightly more” tax is funding record investment in the NHS.
“The Tory tax plans would blow a £500m hole in our budget – and that’s on top of a decade of UK Government austerity,” he added.
The funding dispute boils down to whether more money is generated for public spending in the longer term by increasing taxes.
The Tories argue that lower taxation is better for the economy, leading to larger government revenues through increased economic activity.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives said they would support the NHS in Scotland by “cutting waste, scrapping SNP vanity projects and above all by raising more tax revenue by growing the under-performing Scottish economy”.
“The real threats to the NHS and Scottish public services are continued SNP mismanagement of resources and self-defeating tax hikes which will choke off the prospects for economic recovery,” the spokeswoman added.
MSPs will start voting on a Budget this month that raises income tax for those earning more than £33,000, while those on lower wages will pay the same or less.
The changes are expected to generate an extra £164m for the public purse in 2018/19.
