One, two, three, what are we fighting for?

I have lost count of the number of times I have been exhorted to fight this election on the basis of policies. I’ve also lost count of the number of times I’ve been told voting SNP will keep a Labour government “in check”, “push Labour left”, and ensure things are delivered “for Scotland”.

The SNP have – finally – launched their manifesto for the 2015 general election and we can compare it to the Scottish Labour manifesto. So let’s take a look at the concrete policies, now they are out, and see if this argument stacks up.

In each case I’ll compare Labour and the SNP, and look at the impact SNP votes might have on the policy of a Labour government.

Labour commitment	SNP commitment	Impact of SNP on Labour
Cut the deficit every year and reach current account surplus by end of parliament	Additional borrowing every year and retain deficit past end of parliament	More money spent on debt interest rather than public services
Increase taxes on wealthiest in first year, meaning immediate increase in public spending	Stick to Tory spending plans for first year	Bigger cuts in public services
Protect spending on health, with additional spending from Mansion Tax	Will protect spending, but promises of additional spending are uncosted	Risk to increased NHS funding
Protect spending on education and international development	No commitment to protect these spending areas	Risk of cuts in education and overseas aid
50p tax rate for highest earners	Same	None
Ban exploitative zero-hours contracts	Ban all zero-hours contracts	Remove option from those who prefer flexibility, rather than make work fairer for those forced into zero-hours
Make it illegal to undercut wages by exploiting migrant workers	No equivalent	Risk of continued exploitation of migrant workers
Mansion tax to redistribute wealth across the UK from richest to poorest	Opposed – mansion tax to only apply within Scotland, raising significantly less money	More inequality, less money to spend on essential public services for those who most need them
Stop winter fuel payments to richest 5% of pensioners; cut ministerial pay.	Opposed	Less money to spend on public services for the poorest
New 10p starting rate of tax	Same	None
End Marriage Tax Allowance	Same	None
No increase on basic/high income tax, National Insurance or VAT	No equivalent	Risk of VAT rises or other stealth taxes
Tough penalties on tax evasion, close loopholes on unfair avoidance	Broadly equivalent	None
End non-dom status to reduce tax avoidance	Same	None
Long-term investment approach via National Infrastructure Commission	No cross-UK investment plans	Fewer opportunities for the vital investment Scotland and the rest of the UK needs
Improved access to finance for co-operatives and mutuals from the British Investment Bank	No equivalent	Lack of support for co-ops and mutuals to improve inclusion and best value
Tax rebates to Living Wage employers	No equivalent	Fewer workers benefit from Living Wage
Minimum Wage to reach at least £8 per hour	Minimum wage to reach £8.70 per hour	Higher wages for the lowest paid
End fees for employment tribunals	Fees to remain	Access to justice denied to unfairly treated workers
Guarantee the Barnett Formula	End the Barnett Formula	Catastrophic black hole in Scotland’s finances likely to be around £30-£40bn across this parliament
Protect pensions across the UK	Protect pensions in Scotland	Almost impossible to see how this is compatible with Full Fiscal Autonomy without massive cuts elsewhere
Energy price freeze and reform energy market	No equivalent	Risk of higher energy prices and continued failing market
Implement Smith Agreement in full	Attempt to hijack Smith Agreement to shoehorn in additional demands	Risk that the further devolution agreed by all parties is derailed
Continue to pool and share resources across the UK	Full fiscal autonomy	Less redistribution of wealth. Less money to spend on public services in Scotland. More money for England and Wales.
Constitutional convention for the whole UK	No equivalent	Lack of opportunity for people across rest of UK to participate in constitutional reform
Abolish House of Lords and replace with Senate of Nations & Regions	Abolish House of Lords, no replacement	Further erosion of the unity of the UK
Remain in the EU	Same	None
Enable public/non-profit ownership of railways	No equivalent	Railways continue to siphon public money off into private shareholders’ pockets
Ambitious low carbon target for whole of UK	Roughly equivalent, though only declared for Scotland	None
Triple lock against fracking	Broadly equivalent opposition to fracking	Little difference, though local communities denied final say
Votes for 16 and 17 year olds	Same	None
No tuition fees for university students in Scotland	Same	None
£1,600 Future Fund for every 18 & 19 year old not in college, uni or apprenticeship	No equivalent	Fewer life chances for those who need them most
Retain the BBC as a widely respected publicly funded broadcaster for the whole UK	Break up the BBC to create separate Scottish version	Duplication of spending, less quality TV.
Reverse the 2012 Health and Social Care Act	Same	None
Build 200,000 homes a year across the UK	Build 100,000 homes a year across the UK	Lack of affordable housing
LGBT Rights Envoy	Similar	None
Respect Scotland’s democratic decision to remain part of the UK	“We will always support independence”	Constant grudge and grievance to push for independence
Free bus travel for all apprentices	No equivalent	Fewer opportunities for young people to get into work
New £200m Mental Health Fund, new £200m Cancer Fund	No clear equivalent	Risk that these priority areas do not receive appropriate additional resources
Reverse cuts to HE bursaries and restore highest level for poorest students	Opposed	Less access to further and higher education for the least advantaged
Scottish Anti-Poverty Fund to make food banks history	No equivalent	Less help for those most in need
Double paternity leave & increase maternity pay	No equivalent	Tougher for parents of newborns
Scottish Jobs Guarantee paid for by bankers bonus tax	No equivalent	Less opportunity for work
Restore local accountability to Scotland’s policing	Continue the centralisation agenda	Police Scotland continues to lose public support
Fully implement Leveson	Same	None
Strategic Defence Review in 1st year to include Trident	No renewal of Trident	Given large Commons majority for Trident renewal, SNP anti-Trident policy unlikely to have any effect

I’m sure alert readers will highlight any errors or omissions, but by my reading of the two manifestos, the only positives an SNP vote brings is a promise of a higher minimum wage, and an admirable but almost certainly doomed-to-failure commitment to scrap Trident.

Across numerous other areas, a vote for the SNP rather than Labour will have a negative effect on public spending, health, economic growth, access to education and, fundamentally, on the core aim of Scottish Labour which is to deliver a fairer Scotland.

The argument that a strong group of SNP MPs will help Scotland is blown out of the water. The more votes for the SNP the less likely a Labour government anyway, but as can be seen from this analysis, were a Labour government to be in power reliant on SNP support, it would be disastrous for Scotland.

Scotland needs a Labour majority government in the UK.

A vote for the SNP is a vote against Scotland’s interests.

Duncan Hothersall is the Editor of LabourHame, where this was first published