We’re all losers.. no matter who wins contest of SNP also-rans
Leadership race is revealing none of the candidates are fit for the job of fixing our country’s problems and changing it for the better
We Are three weeks into the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon and we’re yet to see any proof that one of these candidates is up to the job.
Last week we were treated to two televised debates where the candidates got grilled – and grilled each other – about the SNP’s record in government, the coalition with the Greens and many more issues.
Everyone in Scottish politics was watching, with one notable exception – Sturgeon.
If she really did give the debates a miss, it is probably for the best.
No one came out of it well – not the SNP, not the candidates and certainly not Sturgeon’s government.
Kate Forbes broke the SNP’s culture of silence on their own failures to challenge Humza Yousaf on his dismal record as Transport Minister, Justice Secretary and Health Secretary.
She wasn’t wrong but she, of course, did not acknowledge the fact she has presided over years of low growth, falling wages and brutal austerity as Finance Secretary.
And it looks like this is all that this leadership contest will amount to – six weeks of SNP in-fighting and squabbling about how to further divide us.
The competitive incompetence we’re seeing in these debates may be funny to watch but incompetence in government is no laughing matter.
Because right now one in seven Scots is on an NHS waiting list and parents are going hungry to feed their children.
Thousands of operations have been cancelled, A&E has the worst waiting times on record and there are almost seven-and-a-half thousand vacancies in our NHS.
After 16 years, we have an SNP government that is tired and arrogant. It is out of touch with Scotland’s priorities.
I keep getting asked, “Which of the candidates do you think is up to the job.”
The honest answer is none of them.
I had profound disagreements with Sturgeon and spent more than a decade in politics disagreeing with her. But I think even the most ardent supporter of the SNP can see these candidates aren’t Sturgeon. If Sturgeon couldn’t fix the crisis in our NHS, how is Humza Yousaf going to do it? If Sturgeon couldn’t jump-start Scotland’s economy, how is Forbes going to do it? And if Sturgeon was never capable of uniting Scotland, do we really think Ash Regan is capable of it? There is an alternative, though. Scotland doesn’t have to watch helplessly as the wheels fall off the SNP bus. Our country deserves better than this, which is why it is my job to try to reach out to people and ask them to take another look at Labour. I know we will have to earn people’s trust and show them we have a plan to save our NHS, to rebuild our economy and to unite our country. Those are the issues the people of Scotland care about right now, not an SNP talking to itself, about itself. Scotland needs change – and I believe Labour can and will deliver it.
After 15 years of SNP, Scotland is crying out for new ideas and new energy