ANAS Sarwar has yet again proclaimed that the Labour party will not do any deals with the SNP ahead of the next General Election - conspicuously leaving out that his party is more than happy to power share with the Tories.
Sarwar beat the same drum ahead of the local elections in May this year - Scottish Labour won’t do any deals, or any coalitions, and in particular with those nasty nats.
A few months on from the local authority poll, Sarwar launched his plan to redefine devolution in London, more than 400 miles away from his constituents at the opposite end of the country.
READ MORE: UK government threatens to interfere in Scotland's gender recognition bill
And don’t mix that up with former prime minister Gordon Brown’s commission doing exactly the same thing - Sarwar’s series of papers is set to “complement” that work, apparently.
“Regardless of the outcome of the next UK General Election ... Labour will do no deal with the SNP.
“No deal. No pact. No behind-closed-doors arrangement. No coalition,” Sarwar told the Fabian Society in Westminster on Monday.
Three weeks after the local elections, Labour ended up in coalition with the SNP in Dumfries and Galloway. It has not been given a formal name - although both parties have a co-leader on the joint administration. Call a spade a spade, but not if you're Scottish Labour.
Boris Johnson’s Tories are a gift for the SNP.
— Anas Sarwar (@AnasSarwar) July 3, 2022
We must unite across the country to boot them out and bring honesty, decency and values back into our politics.
Only Labour can do that. https://t.co/n8W1A19Yh6
Then if we turn our eyes to the other council areas in Scotland - numerous grubby deals with the Tories and LibDems abound, some of which locked the SNP out of power despite the fact they returned the biggest vote share.
In South Ayrshire, a Tory administration managed to take power due to Labour abstentious, with party councillors later claiming that wasn’t their intention. Meanwhile in Edinburgh, a Labour administration took control with the assistance of Tory votes, and two Labour councillors abstained. We could go on, but the full list is here.
The point is - Labour are still saying one thing and doing another. Scottish Labour are never going to regain trust after the disastrous vow of 2014 and their part in the No campaign if they don’t start to be genuine. Does Sarwar think the electorate have the memory of a fish?
READ MORE: Scottish independence: 2017 pledge to 'block indyref2 for five years' runs out
Scrapping the House of Lords is a rehashed policy and bringing in legal guarantees that Westminster and Scottish Governments work together was another plan touted - there are already legal consent procudures in place, it’s the Westminster government who don’t stick to them by legislating in devolved areas.
Sarwar spent much of his speech wrapping these tedious announcements in amongst a slagging match against Nicola Sturgeon and Boris Johnson, taking on the SNP and Tories in equal measure.
Yet - Labour are more than willing to let the Tories in the back door if it suits them. One thing is clear from Sarwar’s speech - he knows independence is coming and his speech shows he does not have the answers the Unionist side so desperately needs.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel