Anas Sarwar will claim that Scottish Labour is on an election footing and prepared to bring forward a “positive vision for our country”.
The Scottish Labour leader’s remarks will come after UK party leader Sir Keir Starmer yesterday warned that Labour needs to win a large number of seats in Scotland if he is to lead a legitimate UK Government.
Speaking ahead of a keynote speech in the heart of First Minister Humza Yousaf’s constituency of Pollok, Mr Sarwar claimed that Scotland was being failed by “two bad governments” and that it falls to Scottish Labour to deliver the change the country needs.
Mr Sarwar said that the “distracted” SNP is not delivering for Scotland and that only his party can replace the Conservatives in Downing Street at the next UK general election, not expected to take place until the end of 2024 at the earliest.
Read more: Labour Scotland: Starmer eyes seats to give Labour ‘legitimacy’
Mr Sarwar will say: “As they turn inwards and fight among themselves, the SNP have completely forgotten what matters.
“When you have a party that cares only about dividing the country, it’s no wonder that the party itself is now irretrievably divided.
“Those divisions were of course always there, beneath the surface, only kept at bay by Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell as they used their power to shut down dissent and disagreement.
“And just like they covered-up the truth about their own party, they tried to cover-up their failings in office which have weakened every single institution in Scotland over the past 16 years.
“But Humza Yousaf is no Nicola Sturgeon.”
He will add: “The festering wounds in the SNP have opened, replacing cover-up and secrecy with incompetence and delusion.
“This distracted and divided government is disastrous for Scotland.
Read more: Michael Settle: Will Labour’s ruthless election strategy work?
“So, no, I won’t just stand back and allow the nationalists to inflict further damage on our communities and our people.
“I will fight for change; because change is what the people of Scotland deserve.”
Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 programme Leading Scotland Where?, which focuses on the future of Scottish politics following Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation as first minister, Sir Keir said the party needs to break the SNP’s dominance.
“It matters to the Labour Party,” he said.
“I want to be not the Prime Minister of the UK – but the Prime Minister for the UK.
“That means a strong showing in Scotland, so we have that legitimacy.”
At the 2019 General Election, the SNP claimed 48 of the 59 seats – six of them taken from Labour who were left with just one in Edinburgh South.
Speaking ahead of his keynote speech, Mr Sarwar said: “Scotland is being failed by two bad governments that are both mired in scandal and chaos.
“Scotland needs change and it needs a government that is prepared to tackle the twin crises of the NHS crisis and the Cost of Living crisis.
“While the SNP and Tories want to drag us back to the arguments of the past, Scottish Labour is looking to the future.”
He added: “Only Scottish Labour has a positive vision for our country, built on the hopes and aspirations of its people.
“As we build up to the forthcoming elections, we are setting out that alternative and we will ask the people of Scotland to give us the opportunity to deliver the change our country needs.
“I will fight for change; because change is what the people of Scotland deserve, and Scottish Labour is ready to deliver it.”
Former SNP leader at Westminster Ian Blackford said the party needed to take the threat from Labour seriously and urged them to remind voters “Labour are wedded to delivering Brexit”.
He said: “Labour is an alternative to the Tories for the rest of the UK and I get that. I can understand why people would look positively at voting for Labour in such a scenario.
“What we need to do is say there’s a better future for Scotland… by becoming an independent country.”
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