Labor Budget sets the stage for Holyrood elections in 2026

The question now is whether the Scottish Government will know the details before it sets its 2025-26 budget in December, and whether the extra cash will “fully” offset the impact of higher national insurance costs.

The Scottish Government has said it needs a further £500m, but the population’s share of what is spent on this kind of compensation in England is unlikely to provide that amount as Scotland employs more health and education workers per capita.

Those details do matter, but the Scottish headline of Labour’s first budget in 14 years is still that it delivered a big increase in public money so Scottish National Party ministers could choose how to spend it.

Scottish Conservatives see all this as a political opportunity. Argue, as new party leader Russell Findlay did at First Minister’s Questions, that businesses and workers need a different approach, including tax cuts, to thrive.

Their political opponents will say that when Conservative Prime Minister Liz Truss tried it, it went badly, damaging the economy and forcing her out of office.

This budget is already shaping the contours of Holyrood’s 2026 election campaign.