By Bill Heaney
Anas Sarwar will today (MON) call on Scots ‘regardless of how they voted before’ to back Labour and make 2024 the ‘year of change’.
The Scottish Labour leader will use his New Year speech to reach out to all voters and ask them to help the party boot the Tories out of Downing Street and “turn the page on the SNP too”.
Labour’s prospective candidate in the election is Provost Douglas McAllister, of West Dunbartonshire Council, where he represents Old Kilpatrick and Duntocher.
The SNP will be represented here by the sitting MP, Martin Docherty Hughes.
Sitting MP Martin Docherty Hughes, from Clydebank, and Provost McAllister, Old Kilpatrick. Top of page Anas Sarwar at the Labour Party conference.
Speaking in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, where the party won a seismic victory against the SNP last year, Mr Sarwar will vow that ‘change is possible, and that this isn’t as good as it gets’
He will say Scots are ‘hungry for change’ and appeal for the public to give Labour a chance to end the ‘managed decline’ of the Tories and the SNP.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar MSP is expected to say: ” I believe 2024 is going to be a momentous year in the history of British and Scottish politics.
“It can be the year of change, our opportunity for change after 13 years of failure under the Tories.
“But after 16 years of decline and incompetence – it is a chance to turn the page on the SNP too.
“I know people across our country are hungry for change.
“That is why we had to change as a party so that we could be ready to deliver it.
“When I became leader three years ago, some thought my mission was about saving the Scottish Labour party.
“But I have always believed it was about changing the Labour Party so we could serve Scotland.
“So I say directly to people – I don’t care how you voted in the past.
“Scottish Labour under my leadership refuses to turn our back on anybody in Scotland.
“We are the only party in this country trying to persuade anyone and to unify it around change.
“So let me say to those that may have supported independence in the past, and may even consider it in the future.
“I don’t support independence, and I don’t support a referendum, but I accept that we need change right now.
“We may ultimately disagree on the final destination for Scotland, but on this part of the journey, let’s unite to change our country and get rid of this Tory government.
“Give us the opportunity to show you that we can make the UK work for every corner of our country, including here in Scotland.
“The chance to show you that change is possible, and that this isn’t as good as it gets.
“Because I believe with a Labour government, we can do better than the managed decline of the Tories and the SNP.”