By STEWART PATERSON

Political Correspondent

SCOTTISH Labour leadership contender ,Anas Sarwar, has set out a tax plan he says will raise an extra £700m a year by taxing the highest earners more.

Mr Sarwar’s plan would see a shake-up of bands and rates and a new band introduced in Scotland, for the first time since devolution.

A 15p rate would be paid on earnings between £11,800, the rate at which income tax is payable, to £18,000.

The basic rate would go up for the remainder of the basic rate bracket from 20p to 23p and the higher rate also increase from 40p to 43p.

He would introduce a 50p rate on earnings above £100,000, which the MSP said would affect the richest 2%.

The Glasgow MSP said he was setting out a “bold and radical plan” which puts redistribution of wealth at the heart of his plans for government.

Under the proposals he said that no one earning below £36,600 would pay more than under the current Labour proposals.

In a speech in Edinburgh two days before the ballot papers are due to drop through the doors of Labour members, Mr Sarwar said the £700m tax plan would cover the cost of a range of new policies he was proposing.

It includes a Scottish Child Tax Credit of £10 per week per child to 275,000 families.

Mr Sarwar said this would take 50,000 children out of poverty.

Reversing cuts to Employment Support Allowance to 9000 disabled people, which he said would cost £14m.

Providing free bus travel to 16 to 18 year olds costing another £14m a year.

The biggest share would go to stopping cuts to Scottish councils which he said would be £300m next year.

The leadership hopeful said he was asking the richest 2% to pay more.

Under the plans MR Sarwar said someone on the real Living wage would pay £235 less in tax and a those on median earnings of £28,000 would pay £10 less.

A nurse on a starting salary of £22,400would pay £176 less

Up against Richard Leonard, backed by left wing members and most of the trade unions and facing criticism over his links to the family cash and carry business, Mr Sarwar has pitched his tax plans to show his Labour values under the ‘for the many, not the few’ banner.

He said: “In this contest it’s not good enough to just claim you are radical or shot about it a lot. You have to prove it.

“Well this proves it.”

Richard Leonard’s campaign said the plan did not go far enough.

A spokesman said: “The devil is always in the detail and Anas’ plans outlined in his booklet are pretty light on many details.

“Most of his proposals simply do not go far enough to help people in their everyday lives or match Richard’s radical plans for a cap on rent or a renaissance of public ownership or an increase in child benefit for every child.

“Anas Sarwar’s manifesto simply doesn’t go far enough on redistribution from the few to the many.”