Irony alert up in Scotland. Conference season is upon us again, with Anas Sarwar’s Labour party hosting their three-day soiree in Glasgow. It’s significantly busier — and bigger — than last year’s event, with one veteran declaring to Mr S: ‘This looks like a party preparing to win an election.’
And it was in that spirit that Sarwar gave his keynote speech this afternoon, with the Scottish Labour leader taking aim at the SNP’s recent U-turns. He told the party faithful:
‘It’s hard to keep track of their strategy. First it was “the general election will be a defacto referendum”. Then they scrapped the de facto referendum. Then it was back on the table. Then it was a majority of votes. Then it was about a majority of seats. Then it was the most seats. Then they said there is no difference between Labour and the Tories. Then they admitted there is a world of difference between Labour and the Tories. And now they’re back to seeing there’s no difference again. Before they said, don’t vote Labour because Labour can’t win in England. Now they’re saying don’t vote labour because labour can’t lose in England, so your votes doesn’t matter. Confused? I was confused, even writing this bit.’
A bold approach — not least considering UK Labour’s own, er, interesting history with policy U-turns. From Starmer’s £28bn green new deal to NHS outsourcing to the House of Lords to the two child benefit cap and even Universal Credit, the party has an impressive track record of changing its mind in Westminster.
And if Sarwar was left confused by the Scottish government’s changing stances, he’ll know how voters will feel at the Labour position on Gaza. While Keir Starmer is insistent that a ‘sustainable ceasefire’ is the best way forward, Sarwar used his conference speech today to reiterate his support for an ‘immediate’ end to the fighting. How very perplexing. Perhaps Scottish Labour should take more care over their attack lines in future…
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