Labour demands
Don’t let SNP foist another unelected leader on the people, says Sarwar
THE SNP should not be able to impose another unelected leader on the people of Scotland, Anas Sarwar said yesterday.
The Scottish Labour leader’s party has lodged a motion of no confidence in the Scottish Government, and yesterday he called for a Holyrood election so the public can decide on who should be the next First Minister.
He said opting for veteran John Swinney to stand in or even become the permanent new First Minister would be ‘doubling down on 17 years of failure’.
Speaking at a press conference in Glasgow, Mr Sarwar said the no confidence motion is under ‘constant review’ but has not been withdrawn.
He said the SNP cannot provide a ‘competent, stable government’ and also should not be able to impose a ‘second, perhaps even third unelected First Minister’ if the party chooses an interim leader before a permanent replacement is appointed.
Mr Swinney has emerged as one of the frontrunners but Mr Sarwar said: ‘He represents the past.
‘It’s up to the SNP to decide who their leader is but it is continuity Sturgeon. It is repetition and doubling down on the last 17 years of failure.’
Scottish Labour is also ready to go to the polls, he said, adding: ‘This country is probably facing the most difficult challenge it’s had since devolution. We have an NHS crisis, and we have an economic crisis.
‘The SNP is a chaotic, dysfunctional political party who I believe in many ways might be unleadable and ungovernable, and that’s why the office of First Minister should not be some sort of revolving door.’
He added: ‘The exact thing that Nicola Sturgeon said about the Conservatives when Rishi Sunak took over from Liz Truss: it’s for the people to decide.
‘That’s why we believe they should go back to the country. There should be an election so we can try to get stable government and fresh leadership in our country.
‘The principle of our motion still applies, we still don’t have confidence in this SNP government. I think they are chaotic, dysfunctional and cannot give us the competent, stable government we need here in Scotland.’
Mr Sarwar also focused much of his ire on the SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, for the part that he played in Humza Yousaf’s downfall.
He accused the MP for Aberdeen South of encouraging the First Minister to ‘go on the front foot’ by ending the power-sharing agreement with the Greens.
‘Everyone knows where the influence came from, everyone knows where the arm-twisting came from and he encouraged the First Minister to go on the front foot. It looks like he actually shot him in the foot,’ Mr Sarwar said.
Mr Flynn said claims that he played a key role in Mr Yousaf’s demise are ‘a lie’.
‘Anyone positing that argument is doing so without the facts in place. It is in effect a lie, it is not true,’ he said.
‘Nobody goes into the First Minister’s house and tells them what to do, let alone me.
‘The plan that was put in place by the First Minister and his
‘It’s for the people to decide’
advisers has obviously not come to fruition, but that doesn’t mean the decision was wrong. The decision was the right one.’
Asked whether he thinks there should be an election in Scotland given his previous calls for a general election following changes made by the UK Government, Mr Flynn said: ‘The difference between Westminster and Holyrood is that MSPs in Holyrood elect the First Minister.
‘Nobody in Westminster elects a prime minister, so there’s an inherent difference.’