Give me five years to fix SNP mess, Sarwar urges voters

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has urged voters to give him “five years to fix the mess” he says was created by the SNP.

Speaking ahead of their manifesto launch on Monday, Mr Sarwar said his party was running in the Scottish Parliament election to “get the basics right”.

The party has already announced a raft of policies ahead of the Holyrood vote on May 7, with a focus on the NHS, including cutting waiting times for treatment and ending the 8am rush for a GP appointment by renegotiating the doctor contract.

Labour has also committed to scrapping and replacing the business rates system and building a rail link to Glasgow Airport.

Mr Sarwar said: “Scotland needs change after 20 years of SNP government.

“We have all seen the mess John Swinney and the SNP have made over those 20 years: waiting lists have soared, patients are being left in pain, families are paying more and getting less, and too many people feel our country is stuck.

“You’ve given the SNP 20 years and Scotland has paid the price.

“Give me five years to fix the mess, save our NHS and deliver the change Scotland needs.

“I’m standing to get the basics right and build a better future for Scotland.

“My first priority as First Minister will be to put our NHS first by cutting waiting times, ending the 8am rush for a GP and bringing back the family doctor.

“But this manifesto is about more than that, it is about transforming Scotland, making life more affordable, creating jobs and opportunity, building more homes, backing our schools, fixing our roads and ending government waste.

“This election is a straight choice between more of the same with the SNP or change with Scottish Labour.”

But SNP depute leader Keith Brown pointed to the unpopularity of the Labour-led UK Government, saying: “People in Scotland will be thinking ‘we’ve heard this all before’.

“Anas Sarwar stood with Keir Starmer and promised voters ‘change’ two years ago but Brexit Britain is more broken than ever.

“Anas Sarwar told Scotland to trust Keir Starmer, he told us the Labour Party would bring energy bills down and he told us they would save Grangemouth.

“Well, Starmer has been a disaster, energy bills are up and Grangemouth has closed. No one will believe a word Sarwar says now.

“We know what we get with the Labour Party – we already have one disastrous Labour government, we don’t need another one.”

Scottish Tory deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said Scottish voters “know they can’t trust Labour”.

“Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour campaigned tirelessly to install this dud Prime Minister in Downing Street, and they need to own the consequences of his disastrous government,” she said.

“The country is paying a heavy price for taking a punt on Starmer, and Anas Sarwar’s belated, self-serving attempt to disown him won’t wash.

“Scotland desperately needs change after 19 years of decline under the SNP – but Labour can’t offer that change because they’re part of the same failed, left-wing Holyrood consensus.”

Scottish Green candidate and former co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “We know what Labour in power looks like.

“We’ve had a Labour government in Westminster and they have chosen to keep cruel Tory policies, inflict a racist crackdown on refugees and migrants and arm Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.

“They have stumbled from crisis to scandal and back again, with a prime minister so disgraced that even Anas Sarwar has called for him to resign.

“If that’s what Labour has done in Westminster then why would we want to let them run Scotland?

“It doesn’t have to be like this. We can lower bills for families while delivering for our climate.

“It is what the Scottish Greens did when we introduced free bus travel for young people and when we scrapped peak rail fares. With more MSPs, we can do even more.”

While Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Only Scottish Liberal Democrats are offering change with fairness at its heart.

“We have set out plans to cut fuel duty, fix the crisis in social care and end the ferries fiasco for good.

“If voters back us in the 10 constituencies where we are neck and neck with the SNP and on the peach regional ballot across the country, they will get hardworking local champions committed to action on the things that matter most like delivering first-rate health care – so you can see your GP, dentist or mental health professional when you need them and helping you with the cost of living.”