Scotland will “lead the way” in helping Labour win the next general election, Anas Sarwar will claim, as he accuses “complacent” SNP MPs of failing to defend the interests of voters north of the border.
The Scottish Labour leader will use a session with the Institute for Government think tank in London to highlight his party’s recent success in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election.
Labour captured the seat in dramatic fashion earlier this month, with a swing of 20% away from the SNP.
READ MORE: Who are the Scottish Labour MP hopefuls?
Mr Sarwar will say that by-election showed that “Scotland will lead the way in the election of a Labour government”.
But he will use Tuesday’s in conversation event at the think tank to stress that “Scottish Labour MPs will not just be there to make up the numbers and to help get Labour over the line” as Sir Keir Starmer seeks to become the next Prime Minister.
Instead, Mr Sarwar will say that “Scottish Labour MPs will be there to stand up for Scotland and deliver the change Scotland needs”.
READ MORE: Poll: Blow for Labour as YouGov puts SNP on top with bigger lead
A Labour government at Westminster will “fundamentally reset” the relationship with Holyrood, he will add, pledging that “devolution will be returned to its founding principles of co-operation, solidarity and delivering for the people of Scotland”.
Mr Sarwar will say: “The next general election will be one of the most significant in British political history. The election is about change – and the only party offering change is the Labour Party.
“For too long, the people of Scotland have been failed by complacent SNP MPs who are more interested in playing constitutional games than standing up for the people of Scotland and defending public services.
“Scottish Labour MPs at Westminster will be a strong voice for the people of Scotland and will use the power of government to represent the interests of the Scottish people.”
READ MORE: Anas Sarwar: Scottish Labour can beat SNP at general election
The Scottish Labour leader will add: “An incoming Labour government under Keir Starmer will fundamentally reset the relationship between Holyrood and Westminster.
“Under the SNP and the Tories, devolution has become about two governments fighting with each other and failing Scotland.
“With Labour, devolution will be returned to its founding principles of co-operation, solidarity and delivering for the people of Scotland – delivering the change that Scotland needs.”
Fabian Society analysis of a YouGov survey earlier this month suggests that Labour is on course to form a majority government at Westminster, with the party at 31% north of the border compared with the SNP’s 33%.
Labour’s current support includes 17% of people who voted SNP at the 2019 general election, the analysis shows.
More than 1.2 million Scots voted for the SNP in 2019, representing 45% of the vote, compared with Labour’s 512,000 votes and 18.6% vote share.
Scottish Fabians previously calculated that Labour needed the backing of one in five of those who voted SNP or Green at the last election to win 25 target seats and form a majority UK government.
The poll, carried out between October 2 and 6, was published after Labour’s thumping win in the Rutherglen & Hamilton West by-election, where the party secured a 20-point win over the SNP.
Since the Rutherglen by-election the SNP has undertaken a reset of policies with First Minister Humza Yousaf using his speech to his party's conference last week to announce a freeze on council tax next year.
The move was seen as a bid to win back middle class voters who may have switched their support to Labour amid concerns that rise would impact on their household budgets and add to their cost of living concerns.
Responding to Mr Sarwar's claims, the SNP’s Depute Westminster leader, Mhairi Black MP said:
“Anas Sarwar is right, Scottish Labour MPs won’t be there to make up the numbers - they won’t be there at all, as proved by Michael Shanks and Ian Murray’s failure to stand up for Scotland by backing the devolution of employment law in a recent vote."
“With the cost of living so high and the Tories’ desperately acting to overrule the Scottish Parliament and ride roughshod over the rights of workers and unions it’s important we take powers out of their hands - Labour offer no help in that whatsoever."
Katherine Sangster, national director of the Scottish Fabians, said: “Following the victory in the Rutherglen & Hamilton West by-election, this research shows Labour is well positioned to win target seats across Scotland at the next election."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel