Sarwar pledges ‘different approach’ to government if Labour wins Holyrood race

Anas Sarwar has said Labour is “determined to take a different approach” to government if the party wins next May’s Holyrood election.

His comments came as he vowed Scottish Labour will “unleash the biggest and most significant political campaign in the history of this country” ahead of that election.

With polling day just under six months away, the Scottish Labour leader joined economics expert and former Glasgow University principal Sir Anton Muscatelli to launch a report aimed at boosting Scotland’s economy.

Sir Anton, who was part of the first minister’s Council of Economic Advisers when Nicola Sturgeon was in charge, said that “for too long growth hasn’t been there as a priority of the Scottish Government”.

He said his report – commissioned by Labour – makes some 50 recommendations, and was “about how Scotland can reignite economic growth and spread it more evenly across the country”.

Sir Anton added: “It is really about giving people in every part of Scotland the chance to benefit from opportunity and prosperity.

“And economic growth really does matter, it’s what funds our public services, it supports good jobs, it raises living standards.”

Explaining why they had commissioned him to produce the report, Mr Sarwar said his party was “serious about doing this right”.

“Our election in six months’ time is not an election for protest.

“Our Parliament, our government and our institutions are not there to protest, they are there to deliver for the people of this great country Scotland and I want to make sure we have a government in Scotland that has a can do attitude, not a can’t do attitude.

“That’s why, in the coming six months, you will see us unleash the biggest and most significant political campaign in the history of this country so we can take a different course and a different path.”

Adding that “leadership comes from the top”, Mr Sarwar said a future government with him in charge “would have an economics directorate at the heart of the first minister’s office, driving the fact that economic growth has to be a key priority for any government”.

The pledge came as the report set out how economic growth should be placed “at the heart of the Scottish Government”.

The report recommended Scotland should “learn from and adopt” policies that have been put in place by regional mayors in England, including “notably” Greater Manchester, where Labour’s Andy Burnham is in charge.

It also warns that higher income tax charges for higher earners in Scotland “could be a major disincentive in attracting high value jobs” – with the report urging the next government to report on the impact these different rates have on economic growth so that ministers can “create less distortion” on tax.

Speaking as it was published, Sir Anton said: “The report’s message is really very simple – economic growth must become a shared national mission.”

He added: “For too long growth hasn’t been there as a priority of the Scottish Government.

“This must change. The UK Government has made growth one of its central missions and it is really important in the future that the Scottish Government takes a similar approach.”

Mr Sarwar said Labour was “determined to win an election in six months” but is “also determined to do government differently if we win that election”.

He insisted: “In six months’ time, and that means using the levels we have to maximum effect, to maximise the opportunities that come from growth.”

But amid speculation the Labour Government at Westminster could be about to hike income tax in this month’s Budget, SNP MSP George Adam warned of the impact this could have on Scotland’s economy.

Experts at the Fraser of Allander have warned a 2p rise in the basic rate of income tax could see £1 billion lost from Scotland’s budget, with Mr Adam saying: “Anas Sarwar and his Westminster bosses are now presiding over plans that could inflict more than £1 billion of cuts on Scotland’s budget, either through carelessness or contempt.

“That is hardly the foundation for the kind of long-term, strategic growth Professor Muscatelli is calling for.”

He added: “If the UK Labour Chancellor presses ahead with a billion-pound cut to Scotland’s budget, it won’t be an oversight – it would be a deliberate choice by Labour to short-change Scotland.

“And it will prove beyond any doubt that decisions on Scotland’s finances should not be made by incompetent Westminster governments – they should be made here in Scotland with the fresh start of independence.”