Scottish Election 2026: Scotland's political leaders lock horns at Business Hustings

The leaders of Scotland’s six main political parties have warned the country risks becoming a “tumbleweed area” if business rates are not reformed. First Minister John Swinney, Russell Findlay, Anas Sarwar, Ross Greer, Alex Cole-Hamilton and Malcolm Offord all appeared at a hustings event organised by the CBI on Thursday – the first such event of the election campaign. The Scottish Government came in for heavy criticism over the business rates revaluation, which saw some firms face a substantial increase in costs from Wednesday. Stephen Montgomery, the director of the Scottish Hospitality Group, urged a rethink at the event. “One of our members, £111,000 rateable value, up to £675,000 payable,” he said. “That is unaffordable.” He added: “If we don’t have surviving businesses, you’re going to have no tax take whatsoever.” Daily Record Homepage: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/ Daily Record Facebook: https://facebook.com/TheScottishDailyRecord Daily Record Instagram: https://instagram.com/scottishdailyrecord Daily Record Sport Instagram: https://instagram.com/dailyrecord_sport Daily Record TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottishdailyrecord Daily Record Sport TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dailyrecord_sport Daily Record Twitter: https://twitter.com/Daily_Record Daily Record Newsletters: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/newsletter-preference-centre/ Join our WhatsApp communities here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages: DAILY RECORD: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/join-daily-records-whatsapp-community-31116469 RECORD SPORT RANGERS: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/join-record-sports-new-rangers-31111892 RECORD SPORT CELTIC: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/join-record-sports-new-celtic-31111589 You can get all the latest news, sport, showbiz and comment at DailyRecord.co.uk LIKE | COMMENT | SUBSCRIBE | SHARE #DailyRecord #politics #hustings #snp