Analysis

Sir Keir Starmer's pitch veered from the ridiculous to the pleasing - and may have finally helped Anas Sarwar

Anas Sarwar will need Keir Starmer to deliver more positives for Scotland if he is to keep his fighting chance of removing the SNP from office a possibility.

There may have been rows of empty seats and a Prime Minister unwilling to acknowledge his government is wrecking Labour’s chance to remove the SNP from power. But Sir Keir Starmer has finally managed to show his government can be of benefit for Scotland.

The first few months with Labour back in power in Westminster has been a horror show for Anas Sarwar.

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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking at the Scottish Labour conference in GlasgowPrime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking at the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking at the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow | Jane Barlow/PA Wire

A string of unpopular policies from the new government alongside painting a gloomy economic picture Labour made clear they couldn’t do anything to rectify has taken its toll on the favourability of Mr Sarwar with Scots.

There is still some 15 months for Labour to claw back enough support to form the next Holyrood government - lots can happen and much can change.

But this was the first opportunity for the Prime Minister to tell the public the UK Labour government is working for Scotland and can be an asset for Scots.

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The Grangemouth announcement of £200 million from the national wealth fund is a gift for Mr Sarwar - put under relentless and not unfair pressure in recent weeks over his bold vow during the election campaign to pump “hundreds of millions of pounds” into the industrial hub.

It was hard to ignore the fact there were rows of empty seats in the audience for Sir Keir’s keynote address.

We also, ridiculously, heard the exact same anecdote from the Prime Minister about a girl he met at a Glasgow foodbank who couldn’t read that many in the room will have heard at least twice at big set-pieces during the general election.

However, the overall content of Sir Keir’s speech will have pleased a lot of people, particularly within Labour.

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The Prime Minister had a pop at John Swinney, warning the “SNP is out of excuses” as he called on the Scottish Government to take responsibility for its own record.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and First Minister John SwinneyPrime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and First Minister John Swinney
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and First Minister John Swinney | PA

“Devolution should never be exploited as a cop-out, an excuse, an alibi,” Sir Keir warned. He added “it is high time they took responsibility”.

But it is impossible to mask the fact the UK Labour government is causing huge problems for Mr Sarwar. So much so that far from boasting that Scottish Labour is on the cusp of a Holyrood victory next year, Mr Sarwar told the conference on Friday he would need to “defy the odds” to snatch victory from the SNP.

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It has been some time, arguably more than a decade, since the SNP had a genuine threat from an opposition party that looked ready to replace them. But in Mr Sarwar’s Scottish Labour, that is still a real prospect.

Mr Sarwar has now begun setting out his big policies that will likely dominate his pitch to voters in 2026, including a vow to ban mobile phones in classrooms, and ambitious proposals to guarantee a GP appointment within 48 hours and end rough sleeping.

Some of these pledges may not live entirely in reality, but Labour is putting forward an alternative government that may turn the heads of many Scots after almost two decades of the SNP being in power.

But it will take more sustained support from the UK government and the Prime Minister to give Mr Sarwar a fighting chance of getting his ultimate aim over the line.

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