Anas Sarwar to Monica Lennon

After Richard Leonard resigned, the next leader of Scottish Labour will be announced on February 27. Here, one leadership candidate, Anas Sarwar, questions the other, Monica Lennon

AS: The most pressing issue facing our country is the pandemic. How do we bring people together to rebuild our nation?

ML: Getting Scotland vaccinated is our immediate priority. We need to eliminate the virus and recover from the devastation caused by the pandemic. We have seen the best of Scotland and now we need to reward people for their sacrifices.

The people who kept the country running, putting themselves at risk, deserve more than a “rebuild”. We can’t go back to the inequality that existed before.

I want to lead a people’s recovery that finally closes the huge gaps in wealth that have made Scotland an unequal country for too long.

What’s the first thing you would do to tackle rising levels of child poverty?

My mission as leader will be to end child poverty within a decade. I’d do this by correcting a crucial SNP failure and use the full extent of the parliament’s tax and social security powers.

Increasing the Scottish child payment to £30 a week in the next term of parliament is a starting point. I’d also fund local government fairly.

SNP cuts have forced councils to axe classroom assistants, close libraries and reduce vital youth development services. Depriving children of a good education pushes them further into poverty.

What is the most important thing we can do to tackle climate breakdown?

Consume less. Everyone can play their part. It’s largely what inspired me to become vegetarian at 13 and to use reusable nappies on my daughter. I’ve helped to make reusable and plasticfree period products more mainstream.

Scotland has a unique opportunity this year with COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference, being hosted in Glasgow. I will use my background as an environmental planner, to ensure achieving climate justice is embedded in everything we do.

We both became MSPS for the first time in 2016. What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned?

That politics needs to be done differently. Too many people feel left behind and many of them are former Scottish Labour voters. The tired old adversarial style of politics has had its day.

Winning cross-party support for my period products bill showed we can lead the world by building consensus and empowering grassroots movements. We need to create a supportive environment for new MSPS.

We can’t go back to the divisive politics of old. Do you agree a second independence referendum can’t be a priority for the next parliament?

Let’s ditch the word division from our vocabulary. I’ll be a listening leader and go to places where Scottish Labour has been missing.

I don’t believe in independence and I don’t agree another referendum, right now, is right for Scotland. If people in Scotland decide they want another referendum, I won’t hide behind Boris Johnson or any prime minister to tell them they can’t have one.

I am angry that the SNP has not used the powers of our parliament to bring about the transformational change that is possible. I’m also open to more powers transferring from Westminster to Holyrood.

We’re both running positive campaigns. What more can we do to tackle the divisions in our party and in society?

I hope our positivity catches on. Anas, you and I both know the hurt and damage that can be caused by unkind and abusive language.

It’s up to us to lead by example and to persuade others to follow that lead. Tackling online abuse is a pressing issue for the whole of society.

You have said Scottish Labour needs to be a more welcoming place for women and I agree. How can we work together to achieve this?

We need women in the most senior leadership roles. It’s wrong that a Scottish Labour woman of colour has never been elected to the Scottish Parliament.

We need to create structures and systems to help working class women, disabled women, LGBT+ women and BAME women into political roles.

Protecting all-woman shortlists and getting rid of the old pals’ act would help us achieve equal representation more quickly.

And we need to cut out the everyday sexism that tells experienced and capable women they are not leadership material.

During lockdown I got addicted to Cobra Kai on Netflix. What was your favourite show during lockdown?

My daughter watched that. I was a Karate Kid fan in the ’80s! I finally caught up with Schitt’s Creek and adored it. Netflix made lockdown easier to bear but I can’t wait to be able to return to the cinema and go to live concerts.