LABOUR’S national campaign coordinator has been accused of failing to “name a single specific Scottish policy” during his morning media round on Thursday.
Pat McFadden, the MP for Wolverhampton South East, appeared on the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme following the announcement a General Election will be held this summer on July 4.
He said there was “an opportunity for the country to vote for change” at this election and that Labour are “assuming nothing” about what might happen.
Asked who Labour would do deals with should the election result in a hung parliament, McFadden replied: “We’re not doing any deals. Our aim is for a majority. We know that’s ambitious but we want to bring stability to the country.
“And I believe that voters in Scotland have got a critical role to play in this. You know I heard the former SNP leader saying a few months ago that whenever the General Election came, it offered an opportunity for Scottish voters to send a message.
“We offer Scottish voters something much more powerful than that which is don’t send a message, send a government.
“Be part of sending a Labour government that can change Scotland and change the UK.”
Pressed on what specific Scottish policies Labour would be offering, McFadden remained vague.
He said: “Well we’re going to be speaking a lot about that in the next six weeks.
"We gave an indication of the direction of travel when we published the six first steps that we published last Thursday and those were around the economy, GB Energy for example which is our new publicly-owned energy company.”
When host Gary Robertson put it to McFadden that GB Energy isn’t specifically Scottish, McFadden explained it would be headquartered north of the Border.
The MP continued: “Well we always respect the devolution settlement and we work hand in hand with our Scottish Labour colleagues on that.
“But the policies that we announced last week around GB Energy, around economic stability and growth, around securing our borders, these are all of relevance to the whole of the UK and that’s the case for change we will take to the country over the next six weeks.”
Asked what involvement Anas Sarwar (above) had in creating a manifesto, McFadden said Labour “talk to Scottish colleagues all the time” and that they have “the best relationship we’ve had for a long, long time”.
Reacting to the interview on Twitter/X, SNP MP for Edinburgh South West Joanna Cherry said: “And so it begins. Labour spokesman on #BBCGMS unable to name a single specific Scottish policy.
“A vote for the SNP is a vote to put Scotland first. I’m proud to be standing on my record as a strong independent minded voice for #EdinburghSouthWest. #GE2024.”
McFadden also confirmed the party had still not chosen all its candidates to stand in Scottish seats, but said this would be done in the coming days.
Asked about Labour bringing in Scottish General Election picks from south of the Border, McFadden said he “didn’t mind where people have resided for the last few years” and that his focus was on the work they could do as an MP.
Asked about the SNP’s strategy for Scottish independence, based on winning a majority of Scottish seats and taking that as a basis for support for Yes, McFadden was asked if Labour would engage with them in negotiations.
“We don’t support independence and I think the SNP have got a real problem going into this election,” he said.
“They’ve tried this for a number of elections and I acknowledge the SNP’s success in recent elections but then I question what’s been done with it and what’s not been done with it is delivering for people in Scotland in terms of their public services.
“And I think that is beginning to be exposed now.”
