Anas Sarwar has accused the Scottish government of “weakening every institution in Scotland” as he set out plans to revive Labour’s flagging fortunes before the Holyrood elections.
The Scottish Labour leader said he would spend much of 2025 reminding the Scottish National party “time and time again of their failures”, while setting out what his party would do differently if it wins power in May next year.
Scotland was “stuck in a rut where Scots have to wait too long for healthcare, feel insecure both economically and often in their communities, and fear for the future opportunities of their children”, he told Labour activists at Glasgow University.
As Sarwar spoke, his rival John Swinney, the first minister, addressed voluntary sector leaders and policymakers at Edinburgh University as he sought to build a reputation for himself as a consensus builder.
Swinney said the SNP, in power at Holyrood for 17 years, had an enviable track record and planned to eradicate child poverty, harness green energy and boost economic growth. “We know what needs to be done to make progress for Scotland,” he said.
Scottish Labour’s efforts to finally unseat the SNP have been derailed by a series of politically damaging decisions by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and by Keir Starmer, including over the winter fuel payment, the two-child cap and the refusal to compensate the Waspi women.
In Holyrood election polling, Scottish Labour was neck and neck with the SNP over the summer, and eyeing victory next year. Since November, its support has plunged from a high of 37% to 19%.
Despite that ratings slump, Sarwar refused to be drawn on questions about Starmer’s policies and instead adopted the prime minister’s harder language on welfare and on higher taxes for higher earners.
He attacked the SNP government for thinking that “tax rises and handouts are the only solutions to rising poverty and it is you who is expected to pay the price of their incompetence out of your wages.”
Again echoing UK Labour’s stance on the financial legacy left by the former Conservative government, Sarwar said an incoming Labour administration in Edinburgh would also face serious financial challenges.
“The harsh truth is that Scotland 2025 is a nation where the SNP has weakened every institution,” he said. “Where every public service is straining after almost two decades of SNP government control. And where Scots are shelling out more of their hard-earned cash to get less.”
Swinney disputed Sarwar’s claims. “Some argue that investment in social security is the wrong choice for us to make. But we know that inequality is bad for our health, bad for our communities and bad for our economy,” he said.
Speaking to reporters, Swinney defended his claims that public services and political stability were under threat because opposition parties could block the introduction of this year’s Scottish government budget.
His minority government needs the Scottish Greens or the Liberal Democrats to either abstain or vote in favour for his budget to get passed. Swinney said he had no guarantees either party would support it – a claim rejected by a Green party source.
The source said there was very little chance Swinney’s budget would fall, and claiming that might happen risked fuelling the cynicism about politicians that the first minister warned about in his speech on Monday.
Both the SNP and Greens were making “sincere efforts” to agree a budget deal that the Greens could vote for, the source said.
