Anas Sarwar's conference speech

Anas Sarwar's conference speech

Conference, it's an honour to be with you here in Liverpool today.

And it is fantastic to be introduced by our Secretary for State for Scotland - Douglas Alexander.

Douglas – As Secretary of State and as co-chair of our Scottish election campaign, alongside my brilliant Deputy Jackie Baillie, I know you will bring your passion, intellect, and energy to help deliver another historic victory in Scotland next year.

And Douglas, you are carrying on the important work done by our friend, Ian Murray.

But conference, Douglas and Ian are now just two of nine Scottish Labour MPs serving our great country as ministers.

Scotland at the heart of our Labour government.

And Scotland at the beating heart of Labour's future.

Conference, since getting rid of the Tories last summer, we have begun the work of clearing up their mess, and changing this country for the better.

But let's be honest, it's not been easy. It was never going to be.

That's why we need to be more confident in telling our Labour story.

We can't expect the right wing press to do our jobs for us.

We can't afford to be shy about the successes we have had.

Or about the positive changes we are making.

If we aren't going to talk about our successes – then no one else will.

If we aren't going to tell our positive story, then people aren't going to hear it.

So let's not be shy about our Labour story and what we have achieved in the past 15months:

Our New Deal for Working People - the biggest upgrade to workers' rights in a generation.

Raising wages for over 3million British workers.

Ending the scandal of fire and rehire

Scrapping exploitative zero hours contracts

And improving rights for millions of workers.

This is the difference we are making to the lives of so many.

Let's not be shy about that!

We have delivered economic stability after years of Tory chaos.

That means the average mortgage is now £1500 lower since Labour came to power.

And the average wage is now £1800 higher.

So a full-time working couple with a mortgage could now be £5000 better off.

That's thanks to this Labour government.

Let's not be shy about that!

We have returned the United Kingdom to the top table in the world once more.

We have led the way in calling for peace and security around the world.

We have stood by Ukraine in their struggle against Russian aggression.

We have stood with our NATO allies in the defence of our European borders.

We have called for a lasting ceasefire, the end of occupation and the release of hostages in Israel and Palestine.

And we have - at the UN general Assembly - recognised the State of Palestine.

Righting a historic wrong and ending almost a century of injustice.

Let's not be shy about that!

Conference, this is a Labour government promoting peace, securing trade deals and standing up for Britain on the world stage.

Meaning more investment, more jobs, more exports and better outcomes for Scottish and British workers and businesses.

Trade deals with the EU, India and the US that will increase exports by billions of pounds, attract billions in investment and create tens of thousands of jobs.

Let's not be shy about that!

And you know conference, one of my first political campaigns when I was just 16 was to try and save shipbuilding on the Clyde.

And what has this Labour government delivered in just 15 months?

15 years of work for Clyde shipbuilders – securing thousands of Jobs.

A £10 billion shipbuilding deal that is the largest export deal in the history of shipbuilding in the UK.

Securing the future of shipbuilding in my home city of Glasgow for years to come.

Let's not be shy about that!

And after a decade and a half of Tory misrule, this UK Labour government ended austerity once and for all.

This is the difference that a Labour government has made and is making.

Let's not be shy about that!

And none of this - none of this -  would have been possible if we hadn't got rid of the rotten Tories last year.

A UK Labour government - improving lives across the country.

But conference, the truth is that we need to go further and shout louder about what we have done.

Because the fact is that we are allowing our opponents to set the political weather too often.

We are changing lives for the better but we need to be more confident telling our story.

Confident in how we are improving lives for the better.

Confident in how our Labour values reflect those of our country.

And confident about the UK's future.

But the work of change in not being felt equally across the UK

Because in Scotland we are being held back by a tired and out of touch SNP government.

Look at the contrast.

In England under Labour, NHS waiting lists are falling.

In Scotland under the SNP they are still rising - with 1 in 6 Scots on an NHS waiting list.

Here patients are being seen quicker. But not in Scotland.

Do you know that there are more people waiting over two years on an NHS waiting list in Glasgow alone than in the whole of England?

Here schools are now recovering after a decade and a half of Tory misrule. While under the SNP ours are falling down the international league tables.

Here the Labour government is getting spades in the ground to build new homes, while in Scotland the SNP are failing to deal with a national housing emergency.

A UK Labour Government is returning neighbourhood policing to local communities.

But in Scotland, under the SNP, police numbers are cut and our police stations are closing.

So if you want to feel change in Scotland,

Change in the parts of government that touch you and your family every day,

Then we need to beat the SNP.

Replace the First Minister and have a new occupant in Bute House. 

And in just 7 months, with your support, Scottish Labour will deliver just that.

Scotland can't afford another decade of SNP rule – opportunities squandered and potential wasted.

A UK Labour Government delivered record funding to Scotland that the SNP could have spent on our NHS and our schools.

Since the election, they have had an extra £5.2bn to spend.

But what have we got to show for it in Scotland. Where has the money gone?

What have they done with Labour's record budget settlement?

880,000 Scots on an NHS waiting list.

100,000 patients waiting for over a year for treatment

And record numbers are having to shell out and pay privately to get the care they need. 

Where has the money gone?

Despite record funding, the reality is, when Scots need our NHS, too often it is not there and they are let down.

The brutal truth is that Scotland's NHS won't survive a third decade of John Swinney and this knackered and out of touch SNP.

Record funding from Labour for our NHS in Scotland - but where has the money gone?

Conference, this is just characteristic of an SNP government that cannot be trusted with your money.

Scots working hard and paying their taxes all their lives.

But when they look at Scotland's public services what do Scots see every day?

Cuts to police numbers.

Rising violent crime

Falling educational standards

10,000  homeless children.

And Scots being forced to emigrate to get jobs as doctors, nurses, and teachers.

Scots are paying more and more but they are getting less and less from the SNP.

So, we are rightly demanding to know, where has the money gone?

We need to stop the SNP embezzling opportunities from Scots with their incompetence.

That's why there is a stark choice before Scotland in just seven months.

More failure and decline with the SNP

Or a new direction with Scottish Labour.

The choice is the past with John Swinney

Or the future.

That is the simple and straight choice before the people of Scotland.

And the need for change to unlock Scotland's potential could not be clearer.

Scotland is a full of ambition, potential and opportunity.

We have world-leading businesses.

Unique natural resources.

And global brands that command respect across the world.

We are world leaders in renewable technology.

Home to cutting-edge scientific and tech institutions

And several renowned research-intensive universities.

Scotland has so much to offer.

But the truth is that we are being held back.

Held back by an SNP government that looks for excuses not solutions.

But their time is running out.

They are now the past - we are the future.

And we have only seven months to make that future a reality.

We have defied the odd and proven the pollsters wrong before and we will do it again.

They said we couldn't win in Scotland last year. We did.

They said we couldn't win in the Hamilton by-election. We did.

And we are going to do the same again next year.

And let me say something about the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. It was a good preview of the election.

The gutter politics and bile of Reform.

The cheap and cynical politics of the SNP.

While we as Scottish Labour were relentlessly focused on the issues that matter.

In Hamilton, Reform attempted to set community against community, and even cast doubt on my identity.

The truth is Farage didn't even know where Hamilton was, he probably thought it was a stage show in the West End.

So I say to Nigel - Scotland is my home. I am working day and night to change my country for the better. My story is Scotland's story.

Whereas you are a pathetic and poisonous little man that doesn't care about Scotland, doesn't understand Scotland, and that's why Scotland will utterly reject you.

All Reform can do is create noise that risks keeping the failing SNP in power.

And the SNP and John Swinney shamefully talked up Reform and attempted to push people towards them, because they would rather do that than talk about their own record.

Well I am glad to say that the good people of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse led the way and sent them both packing.

That was down to many of you in this room – the Labour family coming together to once again deliver change.

Conference, it is now on us to do that once again.

To prove that the Scottish Labour Party are the only party that can deliver the new direction Scotland needs.

It's on us to show that we are ambitious for Scotland and ambitious about our future.

Because the truth is that Scotland's potential is as limitless.

As is the ambition of our people.

But it's being held back.

The entrepreneur wanting to expand their business held back by punishing business rates.

The worker struggling to earn because they are stuck on a long NHS waiting list.

And the family saving to buy a home but who have been priced out of the market.

We are on their side.

And we are ready to deliver the new direction they need.

So will take on the noisy minority and deliver for the hard working majority.

We will fix our NHS, clear the backlogs, return the family doctor, and end the 8am rush for a GP.

We will improve our schools and close the opportunity gap.

We will support our high streets and grow our economy.

We will bring back community policing and deliver safer streets.

And we will end the waste and respect your money.

Scottish Labour.

Ambitious for Scotland.

Ambitious for the future.

New ideas

New thinking

New leadership for Scotland.

That's what we will deliver - together.