John Swinney’s only priority is to stay in power, Anas Sarwar claims

Anas Sarwar has said John Swinney is “hopeless” at delivering for Scotland as he attacked him for producing “the same old script” with the “same old tired voices”.

The Scottish Labour leader responded to the First Minister’s speech at Parliament setting out his priorities ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election.

But Mr Sarwar claimed the SNP leader had just one priority: to stay in power.

He said Scots could “see right through” Mr Swinney’s pledges to improve the country.

Speaking after Parliament’s return from its summer recess, he said: “It may be a new session, but for this knackered SNP Government, it’s just the same old script and the same old tired voices.

“No matter how much John Swinney shouts about hope and delivery, the truth is he is hopeless at delivery, and Scotland can see it.

“Because as much as he can try and reheat and rehash the same old playbook, the difference now is that Scots can see right through it.”

Mr Sarwar said that while Mr Swinney continued to “beat the drum” of independence, Scots were “paying the price for his and his Government’s inaction”.

He added: “We all know John Swinney only really has one priority in the next eight months: to somehow try and cling on to power.

“And he is going to use the independence card to keep his knackered, failing Government in power.

“He is not interested in improving people’s lives today, fixing services tomorrow, or making Scotland a better place any time soon – just desperately talk about independence.”

The Scottish Tories said Parliament’s achievements since the 2021 election had been “too few” while its mistakes had been “too many”.

Russell Findlay, the party’s leader, told the Holyrood chamber that in the last four years, “barely anything has been done to encourage the economic growth that powers our country and pays the bills”.

“Little effort has been made to create jobs,” he said. “There has been next to no consideration about how to make life easier for workers and businesses, or to give families a helping hand with ever-rising bills.

“This Government has nurtured a culture of anti-aspiration, holding back those who want to get on.

“In this time, when people have looked at Holyrood, they have been dismayed at what they have seen.

“They watched as the SNP passed extreme gender legislation. They watched the disastrous attempt at a deposit return scheme, which harmed business and hammered taxpayers.

“They watched them target free speech, criminalising what can be said in your own home.

“They watched them fail to build two ferries or stem the desperate death toll from drugs, as today’s figures show.

“Why does almost everything that Holyrood touches go so badly wrong?”

In his statement, the First Minister said he wanted to “defeat the politics of fear and divisions” by offering “a clear, principled alternative” to Scots based on the nation’s “welcoming values”.

“Since becoming First Minister, I have heard loud and clear the desire of people for both effective delivery in government alongside a meaningful message of hope,” he told MSPs.

The First Minister rejected claims from opposition MSPs that Scotland’s NHS was “broken”, saying it remains “fundamentally strong”, while recognising it faces issues.

The SNP leader said his Government had delivered rates of child poverty that are lower than a decade ago, adding that if Scotland had the same rates of child poverty as the rest of the UK another 90,000 Scottish children would be in poverty.

“Much achieved and more to do, and no doubt more will be done, because life is tough right now for the people we serve, and we are acting to address those concerns,” he added.

But the First Minister said he was hamstrung by devolution as he reiterated his calls for independence.

He told Holyrood: “The fundamental truth that anchors all of my politics is that the people who care most about Scotland, the people who choose to live here, should be the ones setting our nation’s course – not politicians in Westminster for whom Scotland is too often just an afterthought.

“It is a principle that has been delivered in part by the creation of this Parliament, we have some ability, but limited ability, to shape our nation.

“But for so long as the big decisions over our budget, over our economy, over immigration, membership of the EU, energy, jobs and wages are taken elsewhere there is a break on what our country can achieve.

“Westminster choices that hold us back when we should be moving forward.”

He added: “The Scottish Government will do everything we can within our powers to secure the future of the people of Scotland to improve their lives.

“But make no mistake, this country needs to have the full powers of independence to transform the lives of our people, and this government is going to work to deliver exactly that.”