Scottish Labor leader pleads with independence supporters to help bring down Tory government

Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar is trying to attract supporters of the Scottish National Party. Photo: Ken Jack/Getty

Anas Sarwar will address supporters of Scottish independence. vote for Labor in the upcoming general election to oust the Tories from government, saying: «I don't care how you voted in the past.»

The Scottish Labor leader must urge voters to make 2024 “the year of change” by supporting their party “regardless of how they voted before”.

In a direct appeal to independence supporters disillusioned with the Scottish National Party, he will say they don't have to give up their belief in division to vote for Labor at the next election.

Reiterating his opposition to independence, Mr Sarwar will argue: «Ultimately we may not agree on Scotland's ultimate destination, but along the way let's unite to change our country and get rid of the Tory government.»

He will try to win over independence supporters in a keynote speech on Monday in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, where his party trounced the SNP in a by-election last October.

His intervention came after a senior SNP MP said: “The independence debate will end” if Labor wins more Scottish seats than his party in the election. The Scottish National Party won 48 of Scotland's 59 seats in the 2019 election, while Labor won just one seat.

Tommy Sheppard argued that the SNP losing its Westminster majority in Scotland would ruin hopes of independence, and nationalists “we must put aside our differences and unite.”

Tommy Sheppard called on nationalists to unite. Photo: Stuart Nicol/Stuart Nicol

Recent polls have shown the Labor Party ahead of the Scottish National Party in Westminster voting intentions for the first time in almost a decade. Nearly half of voters who supported the SNP in the 2019 election abandoned them, including many independence supporters.

Labor won the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-elections by an astonishing 20.4% margin over the SNP. , in Humza Yousaf's first major test at the ballot box since replacing Nicola Sturgeon.

Sir John Curtis, Britain's most eminent psychologist, said similar swings across the country would see Labor gain 42 places in Scotland, which will be a significant step forward. in Sir Keir Starmer's hopes of becoming prime minister.

Speaking in Rutherglen, Mr Sarwar will argue that Scots are “hungry for change” and will urge them to give Labor the chance to end the “managed decline” of the Tories and the Scottish National Party.

“I believe 2024 “This will be a significant year in the history of British and Scottish politics,” the Scottish Labor leader is expected to say.

“This could be a year of change, our opportunity for change after 13 years of failure under the Tories. But after 16 years of decline and incompetence, this is a chance for the Scottish National Party to turn the page.”

Claiming that «I don't care how you voted in the past», Mr Sarwar will say: «Let me say to those who may have supported independence in the past and may even be considering it in the future.

“I don’t support independence and I don’t support a referendum. but I agree that we need change now.»

The Scottish National Party says it will have a mandate to begin negotiations with the UK government for another independence referendum if it wins a majority of the 57 seats expected to be contested in Scotland after the border changes.

< p>Letter to the pro-Nationalist Sunday National Mr Sheppard, MP for Edinburgh East, said: «We need to be very clear with voters, this year's vote will depend on whether this path continues, whether we can create the conditions for progress towards our independence.”

“And in a corrupt first-past-the-post system, the only way to do that is to vote SNP. If the SNP loses the Scottish election, the independence debate will end.» Craig Hoy, chairman of the Scottish Conservatives, said: «Anas Sarwar has been alarmingly late in recognizing the obvious truth that the SNP's time in government has been incredibly destructive.

“That’s because on issues ranging from gender recognition reform to disastrous fiscal policies, Labor voted slavishly with Humza Yousaf’s government.” The SNP has been contacted for comment.