Kezia Dugdale launches Labour Holyrood manifesto as most positive ever from party

She said the plan for a Labour Scottish Government was back to Labour at its “boldest best” and what her party had produced was in the best traditions of the Labour Party.

At its core is the plan to increase the top rate of tax to 45% for earnings above £150,000 and a basic rate tax rise of 1p in the pound.

At the launch in Edinburgh Ms Dugdale challenge to voters was if you to end austerity and invest in services you have to raise the money to pay for it.

She said: “One promise underpins all others in Labour’s manifesto. Our different choices on funding the services we rely on mean that we alone can promise that spending on public services will rise in real terms.”

She added: “It simply isn’t credible to promise more spending in the NHS, on schools on Childcare, while accepting billions of pounds more of austerity.

“We all benefit from better public services and I believe people are willing to pay, together, to protect them and improve them, provided they know that the richest pay their fair share.”

The manifesto includes commitments on education, health, fracking, housing and tax. On tax the 50p top rate is expected to raise between £70m and £100m a year.

Labour will use it to create a Fair start fund to give head teachers in nursery and primary schools £1000 for every child from a poor background to raise attainment levels.

It will increase NHS spending and guarantee an appointment at a GP surgery within 48 hours.

It would scrap the council tax and replace it with a property tax and provide help for first time buyers saving with a deposit, adding up to £3000 extra to savings.

There would be an outright ban on fracking in Scotland.

Ms Dugdale said if people want more spending on public services then they have to be willing to see it properly funded.

She said: “We’ll tax the richest 1% so we can invest in our schools and stop the cuts to our NHS and public services.

“If you want that you have to vote for it.”