Commenting as the CPPR publish their analysis of the parties’ manifestos, Liberal Democrat Finance spokesperson Jeremy Purvis said:

"Our proposal for Scottish Water has been vindicated. This justifies our view that if we are to invest in the future for jobs, early years, sustainability and science, then we have to identify where the money is coming from. We stated that clearly in our manifesto and I am pleased this has been independently verified by the CPPR.

"What has to be deeply worrying for the SNP is the utter demolition of their wild claims about resources being freed from the Forth Crossing. In essence the CPPR have said that the SNP claimed ‘savings’ are from a project that is yet to be built, from a budget that wasn’t set and figures that were never published. And in a further embarrassment for the SNP, the CPPR states clearly that if there any savings at all then they would be available to any party taking office after May 5th anyway."