Anas Sarwar has accused the SNP of “playing down” the damage done to the UK economy after 14 years of Conservative rule at Westminster.
The Scottish Labour leader denied Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves had ushered in a new era of austerity after taking power in July and swiftly axing the winter fuel payment for pensioners.
Speaking from the Labour conference in Liverpool, he insisted the new UK Government had faced a “horrific inheritance” as a result of a decade of Tory economic mismanagement.
And Sarwar insisted the blame for the decline of public services in Scotland was squarely the fault of SNP ministers at Holyrood.
John Swinney and other senior Nationalists have regularly accused the new Labour Government of repeating the same mistakes made by former Tory chancellor George Osborne by slashing investment.
Sarwar spoke out ahead of Starmer’s keynote conference speech, in which the Prime Minister is expected to say things “will be tough in the short-term” and that the country needs a “shared struggle”.
Asked whether Labour was bringing back austerity, the Glasgow MSP told BBC Radio Scotland: “It’s important to clarify that public spending is going up and has gone up significantly, partly due to a record pay deal – which was the right thing to do to stop strikes in our NHS.
“But we can’t deny the fact we had a horrific inheritance. I’m not going to play down the damage done by the Tories over the last 14 years. Surprisingly, the SNP want to play down.
“We’re not going to do that. We’re going to be open-eyed about what the inheritance is. And we’re getting on with the important job of fixing the foundations, stabilising the economy and attracting growth into the country.
“But let’s be clear, that’s only one stage of the change. If you care about the NHS, if you care about schools, if you care about the housing system, if you care about the criminal justice system – every one of which is weaker after 17 years of SNP Government.
“We don’t get to change those things, and improve people’s lives, until we change the Government in 2026.”
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