Anas Sarwar: Scotland falling behind England under ‘tired’ SNP

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused the SNP of “holding Scotland back” as he compared the state of education, health and policing north and south of the border.

In a speech to the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Sarwar said Scotland faced a “stark choice” at next May’s Holyrood election – a new direction under his leadership or more “failure and decline” with the SNP.

Earlier, polling suggested Labour is on track for its worst election performance since the advent of devolution, with more voters planning to back Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

A Norstat poll for The Sunday Times found the SNP remains on course to win the Holyrood election comfortably, with 34 per cent of voters planning to back the party in the constituency vote, with Reform second on 20 per cent and Labour third on 17 per cent.

On the regional list, 29 per cent of voters are planning to vote SNP, with Reform and Labour tied on 18 per cent.

According to analysis done by polling expert John Curtice, the SNP would win 59 seats – six short of a majority – with Labour (20 seats) coming just ahead of Reform (19 seats) despite having fewer votes nationally.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Conservatives would see their number of seats halve to 14 with the Lib Dems on ten and the Scottish Greens seven.

Addressing delegates in Liverpool yesterday afternoon Sarwar said England’s NHS had improved since Labour had come to power, while Scotland’s health service continued to struggle.

He said: “In England under Labour, NHS waiting lists are falling. In Scotland under the SNP they are still rising, with 1 in 6 Scots on an NHS waiting list.

“Here patients are being seen quicker. But not in Scotland. Do you know that there are more people waiting over two years on an NHS waiting list in Glasgow alone than in the whole of England?”

He also contrasted improvements in education and policing with what he characterised as failure in Scotland.

He added: “Scotland can’t afford another decade of SNP rule – opportunities squandered and potential wasted.

“The brutal truth is that Scotland’s NHS won’t survive a third decade of John Swinney and this knackered and out of touch SNP.”

The Scottish Labour leader also hit out at what he called the “gutter politics and bile of Reform”.

“In Hamilton, Reform attempted to set community against community, and even cast doubt on my identity,” he said.

 “The truth is Farage didn’t even know where Hamilton was, he probably thought it was a stage show in the West End.

“So I say to Nigel, Scotland is my home. I am working day and night to change my country for the better. My story is Scotland’s story.”

Responding to the speech, SNP deputy leader Keith Brown said: “Anas Sarwar cannot distance himself from the Labour Party's abysmal failure in government and the constant scandals, sleaze and chaos engulfing Keir Starmer’s party.

“Mr Sarwar is just another Westminster branch manager. He tied himself to Keir Starmer, rolled over on every damaging decision, and now he is sinking on Starmer's ship – slumping into third place behind the Reform Party in Scotland.”