Swinney insists: “The austerity we are facing in Scotland is direct product of austerity cuts from the United Kingdom government and Anas Sarwar is going to prolong those cuts within Scotland if his party win the election.” A summary of today"s developments The Institute for Fiscal Studies spotted that the Conservative manifesto pledge to maintain school funding in England at its current level could actually mean a £3.5bn spending cut. The manifesto pledge is “to protect day-to-day schools spending in real terms per pupil” over the next parliament. But with school rolls shrinking because of the falling birthrate in recent years, that means fewer pupils and less spending on schools overall. Labour has claimed that the plans in the Tory election manifesto would lead to a “mortgage bombshell” for homeowners because they involve unfunded spending commitments worth £71bn. Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said: “The analysis that we have conducted … has identified £71bn of unfunded commitments over the course of the next parliament.“ The consequence of an increase in day-to-day borrowing to fund the commitments made in this manifesto would amount to a second Tory mortgage bombshell, because higher borrowing at this scale would force the Bank of England to increase interest rates.” The Resolution Foundation, in its instant of the Tory manifesto, also says that the richest fifth of households will benefit most from the plans it contains. It said: “Total tax giveaways announced in the manifesto today amount to £17.2bn a year by the end of the decade. RF analysis of these tax cuts (which excludes the one-off Stamp Duty cut for first-time buyers) shows that the biggest gainers overall are the richest fifth of households, who are set to gain £1,300 on average, compared to the poorest fifth who would gain £150.” During the BBC’s leaders debate in Scotland in response to a question about whether a possible change in government means the question of independence is off the table, Labour’s Anas Sarwar said this election is not about independence but getting rid of the “rotten Tory government”. Sarwar adds he does not support independence nor a referendum. The Greens’ Lorna Slater believes independence will not be off the table due to the percentage of Scots who support it. The Tories’ Douglas Ross said he doesn’t support independence and believes there has been a “decade of division”. The SNP’s John Swinney says he agrees with Sarwar that it should be up to the people of Scotland to decide whether they want independence. The Lib Dems’ Alex Cole-Hamilton told the BBC debate that one in 14 GP appointments relate to mental health, which he believes can be addressed by trebling the Digital Services Tax paid by social media companies and investing that money into mental health services. BBC news presenter Sophie Raworth has pulled out of hosting the head-to-head debate between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer, The Prime Ministerial Debate, which will now be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 8.15pm to 9.30pm on Wednesday 26 June. The BBC said Raworth has asked to step down as the host of the debate after fracturing her ankle, with Mishal Husain now taking on the role. Most voters who say the war in Gaza is a priority for them would consider voting for an independent, pro-Palestinian candidate, according to new polling published by Hyphen, an online publication focusing on issues important to Muslims. But the polling, conducted by Savanta, also suggests a majority of Britih Muslims do not rank the Israel-Palestine conflict as one of the top five priority issues that will determine how they vote. And that concludes the BBC debate in Glasgow. When asked about the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Sarwar says he supports a two-state solution, an immediate ceasefire and separating Hamas from Palestine. Ross acknowledges that not enough people know about the Barnet Formula in relation to independence. Swinney says he agrees with Sarwar that it should be up to the people of Scotland to decide whether they want independence. Ross says he doesn’t support independence and believes there has been a “decade of division”. He says there should be focus instead on improving the economy and reforming the NHS. Slater believes independence will not be off the table due to the percentage of Scots who support it. Slater says she supports an independent Scotland. On a question about whether a possible change in government means the question of independence is off the table for the moment, Sarwar says this election is not about independence but getting rid of the “rotten Tory government”. Sarwar adds he does not support independence nor a referendum. On his decision to step down, Ross says this election is an opportunity to send a message to Swinney, who he accuses of failing to answer questions properly. Ross reiterates Scotland’s teacher numbers are falling and that Swinney was previously education secretary. Swinney says it relates to austerity and that there is a fixed sum of money available to the Scottish government. He repeats there will be more austerity from the Tories and Labour. Sarwar hits back – “Read my lips … no austerity under Labour”. Slater says the austerity-making decisions made by Westminster are to blame for the state of the NHS. She believes an independent Scotland would make a difference. Swinney insists: “The austerity we are facing in Scotland is direct product of austerity cuts from the United Kingdom government and Anas Sarwar is going to prolong those cuts within Scotland if his party win the election.” Cole-Hamilton cites the case of a nurse who had to wait eight hours for an ambulance. He says one in 14 appointments relate to mental health, which he believes can be addressed by trebling the Digital Services Tax paid by social media companies and investing that money into mental health services. On the NHS, Swinney says the health service is under acute pressure due to increased demand and the level of delayed discharges. He says staffing levels and funding in the NHS is at record levels, and that they are prepared to tax higher earners to fund the NHS. Sarwar said there will be an immediate injection into the NHS by closing the non-dom tax loophole.