Anas Sarwar to unveil first 100 day pledges if Labour wins power
Scottish Labour has set out its initial priorities if the party forms the next Holyrood government.
Anas Sarwar will declare a waiting times emergency, deliver £100 million of support for the cost of living crisis and call in Scotland’s fiasco-hit ferry companies in the first 100 days of a Scottish Labour government.
His pitch for the first 100 days of a Scottish Labour government at Holyrood comes just one week before voters head to the polls to elect a new Scottish Parliament. Labour remains far behind the SNP in national polls and will need something drastic to change if they are to have any chance of forming the next government.
Mr Sarwar’s commitments for the first three months of forming a government come after John Swinney unveiled his immediate offer to voters earlier this week - including the first steps in establishing a £2 bus fare cap, capping the price of essential food prices and rolling out his independence strategy.
The Scottish Labour leader has argued that a new government under his leadership would hit the ground running and “fix the mess” he claimed has been left by the SNP over the last 19 years.
Speaking in Edinburgh, the Scottish Labour leader will argue that Scotland needs change and that this election is a straight choice between Mr Swinney and him.
Under the plan for the first 100 days of a Scottish Labour government, Mr Sarwar would declare a waiting times emergency and publish a plan to get patients treated wherever there is capacity, expand the Warm Homes Programme, widen support with energy costs and boost the Warm Home Discount.
Mr Sarwar would also roll out a £100m support package for the cost and fuel crisis - including help for struggling households, support for businesses, bulk buying fuel to bring down prices at the pumps, and action with supermarkets to keep down the cost of staple items.
Mr Sarwar has also pledged to transfer the first £70m into a pothole fund for councils, end the ban on new nuclear power stations being built in Scotland and create an ending homelessness unit that will begin action to attempt to eradicate rough sleeping.
A Scottish Labour government would also bring forward plans to ban phones in classrooms, recruit recovery teachers and set up a Scottish Treasury and delivery unit - as well as call in CMAL and CalMac in an attempt to avoid a summer ferry crisis, all within the first 100 days of office.
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Mr Sarwar has also pledged to use the first 100 days of any government he leads to stop the downgrading of Wishaw neonatal unit and start work to end the 8am rush for a GP appointment.
Mr Sarwar said: “We have all seen the mess John Swinney and the SNP have made over those 20 years.
“Our NHS is struggling, family budgets are under pressure, our roads are crumbling, and too many people feel our country is stuck.
“The SNP has had 20 years and Scotland has paid the price.
“My message to voters is simple: you’ve given the SNP 20 years, give me five.”
He added: “Give me five years to fix the mess, get the basics right and build a better future for Scotland. In our first 100 days, we will show exactly what change looks like.
“That means emergency action to cut waiting times and save our NHS, practical help with the cost of living, action to fix the roads, support to tackle homelessness, steps to get our economy moving, and a government that respects taxpayers’ money instead of wasting it.
“And if this international instability continues, we will not sit back and let Scottish families and businesses pay the price. We will act with £100 million of emergency support in our first 100 days.”
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