What a difference a year makes. When we gathered for Labour conference in Liverpool last year, the Tories were still in power, Humza Yousaf was the First Minister and you could fit Scottish Labour’s MPs on a motorbike and sidecar.
In the last 12 months, we have transformed the political landscape across the UK. Together we have kicked the Tories out of power. We have delivered 37 Scottish Labour MPs. And we have delivered a Labour government in Downing Street that is focused on your priorities.
At Labour conference last week, we saw the difference a Labour government makes. In his speech, Keir Starmer was clear that the politics of hate and division have no place in the UK and promised change after 14 years of Tory decline.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves stated clearly that there would be no return to Tory austerity under Labour. And Foreign Secretary David Lammy was resolute in this Labour Government’s support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression and on the need for peace in Palestine, Israel and Lebanon and an immediate and full ceasefire.
A Government that is on the side of working people, that understands and cares about Scotland, and that is striving for peace around the world.
This is what we have delivered with the help of everyone who voted for change at the general election.
But the fact is that the story of our country’s revival is only half-written.
We might have managed to get rid of one incompetent government at the general election.
But here in Scotland we are still held back by another one at Holyrood.
An incompetent Government that cannot deal with the challenges we face.
When nearly one in six Scots are languishing on an NHS waiting list.
When thousands have been driven into private healthcare.
Drug and alcohol deaths remain shockingly high.
Rough sleeping persists and homelessness is at record levels.
When the education attainment gap remains.
And economic growth has flatlined.
It is clear that we need change in Holyrood just as much as the change we needed to boot the Tories out of Downing Street.
And as we look towards the 2026 Scottish Parliament election I want to be clear – Others might want to talk Scotland down, but I am relentlessly positive for the future of our country.
Scotland’s best days lie ahead of us.
Things can and they will get better.
We will make Scotland the best country in the world to live, learn, work and do business in.
We will unlock the potential of our workers and natural resources by making Scotland a world-leader in green technology.
We will save our NHS by transferring power away from managers and towards doctors and nurses.
And we will get our economy back on track by supporting businesses and workers to thrive.
This is what is on offer – a fairer and healthier future with Scottish Labour.
That is the future that I am determined to see delivered for the people of Scotland.
A brighter and more prosperous Scotland where everyone is helped to thrive.
This is the change we need and this is the change we will deliver.
But we cannot deliver this change alone.
A year is a long time in politics.
So between now and the next election, I promise to work tirelessly to make the case for change and hope that Scotland so badly needs.
The SNP Housing Minister has to go
Everyone should have a home to call their own and a roof over their head.
But statistics published this week have revealed the scale of Scotland’s housing and homelessness crisis.
Over 40,000 applications for homelessness support were made last year – the highest in a decade.
And we now shamefully have record levels of children in temporary accommodation – without a home to call their own.
That is over 10,000 children left homeless on this SNP government’s watch.
And the number of young people living in B&Bs has soared in only three years by over 900%.
Every number is a human being in desperate need of help and support but they are being completely failed.
Despite that, Housing Minister Paul McLennan has told the media that this SNP government has a ‘good track record’ in preventing homelessness.
This is inept and shameful.
The most vulnerable in our society should not pay the price of what John Swinney has himself admitted was a government too focused on what they can’t do, rather than what they can do.
Housing in Scotland is completely the responsibility of this SNP government.
They have no one else to blame and nowhere to hide.
It’s time that the SNP changed direction, supported Scots in need and handed this hapless Housing Minister his jotters.
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