Hospitals and health centres will receive emergency treatment from Scottish Labour.
by Bill Heaney
Anas Sarwar has launched Scottish Labour’s manifesto for the May 7 election with a direct message to voters: “This election is a straight choice between more of the same under John Swinney and the SNP, or a new direction with a government focused on the priorities of the Scottish people.”
Launching the party’s plan for government, Mr Sarwar will say Scotland needs change after 20 years of SNP government and that a Scottish Labour government will get the basics right and build a better future for Scotland.
At the heart of the manifesto is a plan to save Scotland’s NHS after years of SNP failure. Scottish Labour says its priority in government will be to cut waiting times, end the 8 am rush for GP appointments and bring back the family doctor.
The party said its manifesto is a plan to fix the mess in our NHS, get the basics right in the services people rely on every day, and build a better future for Scotland.
Scottish Labour’s plan will:
- Fix the mess in our NHS by cutting waiting times with money following the patient and by using capacity across Scotland and the UK to end long waits
- Get the basics right in primary care by ending the 8am rush for a GP appointment and bringing back the family doctor, with a GP appointment within 48 hours for those who need one
- Build a better future for our NHS by using new technology to improve treatment, early diagnosis, and make life easier for patients
- Protect mental health services with a new emergency mental health response service so people in crisis get NHS care, not a police response
- Make life more affordable by topping up tax-free childcare to £3,000 per child and funding two weeks of summer holiday clubs
- Give every child the best start with breakfast clubs in every primary school, a ban on mobile phones in classrooms, 2,000 Education Recovery teachers and 1,500 more classroom assistants
- Create jobs and opportunities with 9,000 new apprenticeships and support for high-skilled, high-paid industries
- Fix the broken housing market by building 125,000 new homes and supporting first-time buyers
- Back Scottish business and local communities by abolishing the unfair business rates system and replacing it with a local business levy
- Strengthen energy security and create jobs by ending the block on clean nuclear energy
- Reconnect Scotland with the Glasgow Airport Rail Link and, better, faster, more reliable trains and buses
- Put safety first with community police officers for every neighbourhood
- Fix the roads with a £350 million pothole fund to repair up to 5 million potholes
- Respect taxpayers’ money with fair funding for local communities, no income tax rises for the next five years, action to cut government waste and a cut of a third of quangos
- Clean up politics with the right to recall MSPs who fail to uphold public standards.
Anas Sarwar said: “Scotland needs change after 20 years of SNP government. We have all seen the mess John Swinney and the SNP have made over those 20 years. Waiting lists have soared, patients are being left in pain, families are paying more and getting less, and too many people feel our country is stuck.
“You’ve given the SNP 20 years, and Scotland has paid the price. Give me five years to fix the mess, save our NHS and deliver the change Scotland needs. I’m standing to get the basics right and build a better future for Scotland.
“My priority as First Minister will be to put our NHS first by cutting waiting times, ending the 8 am rush for a GP and bringing back the family doctor.
“But this manifesto is about more than that, it is about transforming Scotland, making life more affordable, creating jobs and opportunity, building more homes, backing our schools, fixing our roads and ending government waste.
“This election is a straight choice between more of the same with the SNP or change with Scottish Labour. On May 7, vote for Scottish Labour on both votes for the change Scotland needs.”