Over the past few weeks each of the political parties have produced manifestos setting out their policies and positions ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections on 5 May. The Scottish Green Party, Scottish Labour Party, Scottish National Party and Scottish Socialist Party have included references to Scots. There are no references to Scots in any of the other parties' manifestos. The Scots-speaking community constitutes 30% of the Scottish population (1.5 million at the 2011 census). The various manifestos may be seen at the following links:

RISE (Respect Independence Socialism Environmentalism) Party: No mention of Scots.

http://www.rise.scot/manifesto/

Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party: No mention of Scots.

http://www.scottishconservatives.com/policy/manifestos/  

Scottish Green Party “We support cultural ventures in all the languages of Scotland, including measures to encourage the use of Gaelic, the Scots tongue and the languages of those from minority ethnic backgrounds.”

https://greens.scot/sites/default/files/Scottish%20Greens%20Manifesto_Online.pdf

Scottish Labour Party: "We recognise Scotland's rich cultural heritage, including Gaelic, Scots and Nordic."

http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/manifesto/all

Scottish Liberal Democrat Party: No mention of Scots.

http://www.scotlibdems.org.uk/manifesto

Scottish National Party: “We will also provide support for the Scots language.”

http://www.snp.org/manifesto

Scottish Socialist Party: “Promotion of Gaelic and Scots, with all their diverse dialects.”

www.scottishsocialistparty.org/?s=scots+language+

United Kingdom Independence Party: No mention of Scots.

http://www.ukip.org/