Commenting on the prescribing statistics published today, which shows a 5.6% increase in the cost of prescriptions, with the overall cost of prescribing now at £1,074 million, Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson Ross Finnie MSP said:

“The drugs budget continues to rise. But the SNP is still determined to give free prescriptions to the rich.

“We showed last week that the SNP Government will have spent £950 million on policies that mainly benefited the very richest in Scotland.

“When money is tight, people will question a Government that spends precious resources on policies that help well-off people in Scotland, but do nothing to help the poorest.”