Sir Keir Starmer launched Scottish Labour’s general election campaign with a plea to independence supporters to vote for his party for “change.”

Hundreds of activists and candidates gathered in the atrium of the Glasgow HQ of City Facilities Management, the firm run by Labour peer and donor Lord Willie Haughey.

Many of them held boards emblazoned with the word “change.”

Polls suggest the party - which only won one Scottish seat at the 2019 vote - is on course for a stunning comeback at the next general election.

READ MORE: Can the SNP claw back voters they have lost to Labour? What polls tell us

The average from polls taken in May put Labour, on 37% of the vote in Scotland, a 6.5 point lead over the SNP.

According to the analysis of polling expert and Herald columnist, Mark McGeoghegan, That would be enough for Labour to win 33 seats to the SNP’s 14.

However, while support for the SNP has fallen, support for independence has remained steady, at around 48%.

Speaking to journalists after his speech, Sir Keir told the Herald the Labour Party and independence supporters shared a “common ground.”

“If you want change, you can have change with a Labour government.

"Now there may be differences as to what the final end destination is, but there's a lot of shared ground there in relation to change and therefore I understand that sentiment.

“I do think that by voting Labour, that is a vote for change and a vote for a better Scotland and ultimately, I think that's what drives so many people who want the best for themselves, their family, their community and their country.

“I think that's totally understandable.”

Polls suggest two-fifths of 2019 SNP voters are set to back Scottish Labour at the next election.

Asked if there was a tension there, Anas Sarwar said he was not worried.

“And the reason why is if you look at the age bracket that is the most significant support for independence in the polls, those that are aged 20 and under, for example, they have not lived a single day of their adult life in a stable United Kingdom.

“They lived with Brexit chaos, Boris Johnson chaos, David Cameron chaos, Liz Truss chaos, and now Rishi Sunak chaos.

“We are in this election campaign, it's not about independence, it's about change.

“And I recognise there are so many people in the past who have voted SNP, but have been sympathetic to independence because they thought it was the only way to get away from this Tory government.

“They thought somehow it was the parachute or the lifejacket and what we're saying directly to those people in this election campaign is we may ultimately disagree on the final destination for Scotland, but we all agree we need change right now.”

Mr Sarwar said the party did not support and “don't support another referendum right now.”

“But we recognise people in Scotland want change.”

He said he hoped that in the longer term, a Labour government could convince independence supporting Scots that “we can make the UK work for Scotland.”

In his speech, Sir Keir hit out at the SNP. He said John Swinney’s party only wanted to “send a message” to Westminster.

Sir Keir said: “Send a message? That is the height of the SNP ambition – to send a message, a protest, in Westminster.

“I don’t want Scotland to send a message, I want Scotland to send a government, a Labour government.

“A Labour government that can stop the chaos and division, that can turn the page and rebuild Scotland and Britain. We need that change.

“There is no change without Scotland, there is no Labour without Scotland, Scotland is central to the mission of the next Labour government.”

Asked if he would work with John Swinney if he was unable to secure a majority, Sir Keir said there would be “absolutely no deal with the SNP”.

The Labour leader added: “That’s not just a question of mathematics, that is because there is no way an incoming Labour government could ever work in any way with the SNP, whose only ambition is to break up the United Kingdom.”

READ MORE: SNP campaign launch overshadowed by Matheson and Branchform

Sir Keir said he wanted his party to take “every seat we are capable of winning here in Scotland”.

He said: “This is also personal. If I am privileged enough to come in and serve as the UK prime minister, I want to be the UK prime minister for the whole of the United Kingdom and that includes Scotland.

“Over and above the numbers, having strong Labour representation from Scotland sitting on the government benches matters to me in terms of the way I want to govern, which is for Scotland and with Scotland.

“Yes, the numbers are important, but there is something very deep about the way I see politics, which is also about the type of government we want to form.”

The SNP’s Alison Thewliss claimed Sir Keir and Labour had “no vision beyond the status quo”.

She said: “If an incoming Labour leader’s priorities don’t consist of scrapping cruel austerity-driven Tory policies, £9,250 tuition fees, and the unelected House of Lords, then what exactly are they for?

“In reality, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party are prioritising no change at all and are offering nothing to the people of Scotland beyond more of the same.

“We have a rotten Tory Government that deserves to be booted out of office, but it is clear that Sir Keir Starmer has no vision beyond the status quo.”

Ms Thewliss added: “Thankfully though for Scottish people, there is an alternative to the Tories with the SNP, who won’t just stand up for these values, but have put their money where their mouth is – scrapping tuition fees in Scotland and committing over a billion pounds to support families affected by the worst of the Tories’ austerity policies.”