Daily Record Political Editor Paul Hutcheon said Anas Sarwar has opted for a cautious policy programme and he tries to topple the SNP
Anas Sarwar is running against the SNP and his own party in his campaign to become First Minister.
Scottish Labour’s manifesto launch in Edinburgh was unveiled in nightmare circumstances.
With less than a month to go, Labour are over 20 points behind the SNP and taking the flak for the chaos in Downing Street.
The party backdrops at the Edinburgh University venue had an SNP vibe to them – a big Saltire and repeated references to “Scotland”.
You would have required a microscope to locate the word “Labour” when Sarwar took to the stage.
Keir Starmer, whose terrible start as Prime Minister has done so much damage to Sarwar, was nowhere to be seen in the 94 page document.
One senior party figure said: “We would be more likely to put a picture of Peter Mandelson in the manifesto than Starmer.”
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The launch confirmed the progress Scottish Labour has made in the last few years on patriotism.
Sarwar’s party was previously open to the accusation that they were more loyal to UK Labour than to Scots.
His call for Starmer to quit as Prime Minister killed that toxic claim stone dead.
Sarwar was also at his best talking about the country he wants to lead. “Scotland first, everything else after,” he declared.
He also confirmed a shopping list of policies that put the cost of living crisis at the centre of the election.
Boosting tax free childcare, creating 9,000 new apprenticeships and building 125,000 more homes are intended to help people cope with everyday life.
Backing income tax cuts for Scots earning £33,500 or more, as well as a £100m package of support in response to the Gulf crisis, will speak directly to mainstream voters.
Promising to slash NHS waiting times, end the 8am rush for a GP appointment and create a new mental health emergency service also hones in on the SNP’s weakest area – health.
But there is a feeling inside Labour that the manifesto lacked ambition after nearly 20 years in the doldrums of Holyrood politics.
Sarwar has committed to keeping every one of the SNP’s universal benefits, from free prescriptions to no university tuition fees.
Some of the anti-poverty policies, such as on breakfast clubs in primary schools and generous payments for babies, were cut and pasted from the SNP Government Budget.
The manifesto showed Sarwar is promising to be a better custodian of Scotland’s status quo, rather than going for the jugular and backing a fundamentally new approach.
In the question and answer session with journalists, he responded tetchily to the suggestion he was offering “new management” by reeling off all the times the media had predicted a fall for Labour.
“Now you are telling us we can’t win this election. I look forward to proving you all wrong on the 7th of May,” he said, to applause.
But everything about Sarwar’s campaign, from his spring conference in Paisley to the manifesto, shows he is focused on voters’ minds, not their hearts.
He is asking Scots to “hold their nose” and vote Labour tactically, rather than do so with any enthusiasm.
Sarwar is of the view that Alex Salmond’s victory in 2007 is a template of success for him.
Nearly twenty years ago, Salmond tapped into a vibe of change and promised a series of inexpensive but eye-catching populist policies.
Salmond’s energy also led to the SNP beating Labour by a single seat, a result that changed Scotland forever.
Sarwar’s problem is he possesses Salmond’s drive but lacks the pledge card-style policies the former SNP leader had in droves.
The Glasgow MSP believes that once voters are interested in the campaign, they will see Labour as the best option to call time on two decades of SNP rule.
He is confident switchers will deliver him ten to fifteen SNP constituencies.
But anger with the UK Government means he still has three mountains to climb to win the election.
Sarwar has to claw back support lost to Reform, eat into the SNP’s huge lead and halt the rise of the Greens. All in less than 25 days.
If the pro-UK parties pull off a majority, which no poll is showing, Sarwar would then require Reform support to become First Minister.
The best Sarwar can hope for is sneaking a narrow win and crawling into the Bute House.
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