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The Scotsman Bulletin from the Scottish Labour Party Conference #ScottishLabour
The Scotsman
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21/02/2025
Dale speaks to political editor Alistair Grant at the start of the Scottish Labour Party Conference in Glasgow
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00:00
Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Daily Video Bulletin for this Friday.
00:04
My name is Dale Miller.
00:05
I'm Deputy Editor of the Scotsman and I'm joined by Alastair Grant, our Political Editor,
00:11
coming to us live from the SECC in Glasgow.
00:15
Alastair, we're going to talk all things about the Scottish Labor Conference, but firstly
00:21
the front page of today's Scotsman, which is pretty political anyway, obviously leading
00:26
and splashing on council tax hikes.
00:30
Now, there were five councils that on Thursday agreed hikes.
00:35
They included Edinburgh, which set a rate of 8 per cent, and Glasgow that set 7.5 per
00:42
cent.
00:43
There were also councils in the Scottish Borders and North Manxshire as well that set 10 per
00:48
cent rises.
00:49
Some of these are the highest in 20 years set by the councils, and brutal S&P cuts have
00:55
been blamed effectively by some of the stakeholders for needing to raise council tax by that much.
01:02
Also a very compelling picture there taken by Jane Barlow from the Scottish Parliament.
01:09
It was soon after John Swinney faced First Minister's questions where he was peppered
01:14
with questions about single same-sex spaces, and he repeatedly pointed to the Equality
01:22
Act and explained that he could not comment because it was an ongoing judicial hearing
01:27
that won't resume again until July.
01:30
There's plenty to play out around that issue, and you can read the latest on those stories
01:34
at Scotsman.com.
01:36
Also an exclusive from Callum Ross about inspectors going into Feddy's College over racial discrimination
01:43
claims, another very strong story available at Scotsman.com.
01:47
Alastair, I've talked enough there.
01:50
We want to get in the Scottish Labour Conference.
01:53
Tell us what's happening, what's on the cards for today and the next couple of days.
01:57
Yes, so the Scottish Labour Conference is taking place at the SEC in Glasgow over the
02:02
next three days.
02:03
This is the first day of it, and today we're expecting to hear from Anna Sarwar, the Scottish
02:07
Labour leader, giving a speech to delegates at about two o'clock or just after two o'clock.
02:13
But there's loads of other stuff going on as well.
02:15
We're also expecting to hear from Ian Murray, the Scottish Secretary.
02:18
There's so-called fringe meetings that take place around the main conference hall.
02:23
The ones probably of most interest today are a fringe meeting taking place involving Pat
02:28
McFadden, the Labour MP, widely seen as one of the key factors in their general election
02:34
success last July, obviously a Scotsman by birth, even though he represents an English
02:39
constituency.
02:40
So I'm sure that'll be really interesting, because the topic of that fringe meeting is
02:44
about how Labour wins the Holyrood election next year.
02:47
There's also a fringe meeting held by the Scottish Police Federation, which traditionally
02:52
always produces good newslines at party conferences, police talking about funding cuts, the impact
02:58
of spending squeezes on frontline services and how officers carry out their jobs.
03:04
There's also a fringe meeting a little bit later on in the afternoon, kind of going into
03:08
the early evening, involving Michael Shanks, the Energy Minister, talking about the lessons
03:12
they've learned from government so far.
03:13
So lots to talk about today, and I'm sure it'll be fascinating to hear what Anas Sarwar
03:18
has to say this afternoon.
03:20
Alistair, I was interested about the build-up, actually, because it felt like we were in
03:25
prime election territory, because Anas Sarwar and the party were making numerous announcements
03:30
about what they would do in government throughout this week.
03:32
It's something we've not heard a lot of concrete commitments from them, but we had that they
03:37
would axe peak rail fares.
03:39
We had a story in today's Scotsman about hiring and bringing professional role models
03:44
in the schools for children.
03:46
And we had some commitments about stopping the 8am rush for GPs as well.
03:51
So it felt like we were in election mode.
03:53
Fair to say?
03:54
Yeah, very much so.
03:55
I mean, one of the criticisms that's always levelled at Scottish Labor is that they lack
03:59
a vision.
04:00
They lack a kind of overall compelling vision for Scotland.
04:03
You know, a lot of people ask, what exactly does Anas Sarwar stand for?
04:07
What does he want to do when he's in power?
04:08
And this kind of conference weekend is very much the start, I think, of Labor rolling
04:12
out some of their key policies.
04:13
We've heard a little bit from them in the past about what they want to do in areas such
04:16
as the NHS, the health service, cutting what they say is red tape, bureaucratic waste,
04:24
improving efficiencies in the public sector.
04:26
But there's more specific policies.
04:27
So like you say, I think probably the most eye-catching one was that promise to scrap
04:31
peak rail fares.
04:32
But I'd also draw viewers' attention to a piece I wrote, it's on the Scotsman's website
04:37
today, kind of looking at the key challenges facing Scottish Labor as they go into this
04:43
conference weekend ahead of next year's election.
04:46
That lack of vision, I think, is very much one of them.
04:48
I think the others include Keir Starmer's unpopularity, the UK Labor government's unpopularity,
04:55
Keir Starmer's really struggling in the polls at the moment.
04:57
One of the polls last weekend actually showed that he was the least popular politician in
05:03
Scotland.
05:04
He was below Donald Trump.
05:06
So he really doesn't have his troubles to seek, partly because of unpopular decisions
05:10
like winter fuel payment, compensation to WASPI women, the national insurance hike.
05:15
But other problems include the rise of reform, Nigel Farage's party really eating into the
05:20
Scottish Labor vote.
05:21
And I think it's difficult for Scottish Labor to try and figure out a way of dealing with
05:25
that.
05:26
But it's something they're going to have to kind of grapple with in the months to come.
05:30
And some of the other things, I think, I mean, it's kind of like a whirlwind of stuff, really.
05:34
I mean, that kind of lack of vision is very much up there.
05:37
And I think just time, the fact that, you know, in some ways, you know, the next election
05:41
isn't until we think, you know, May next year.
05:44
In some ways, a year is a very long time in politics.
05:46
There's lots of stuff that could happen between now and then.
05:49
Then other ways, it takes a long time for political parties to get to firstly craft
05:54
a message and secondly, to hammer that message home with voters.
05:57
There's a reason that politicians repeat soundbites over and over again.
06:01
So if Anas Sarwar wants to change the narrative in Scottish politics, Scottish Labor not doing
06:05
well in the polls at the moment, if he wants to turn that around, he will be very conscious
06:10
the time is of the essence.
06:11
And linked to that, one of the last key challenges I think they face is the fact that John Swinney
06:15
has come in as first minister and has really kind of managed to steady the SNP ship.
06:20
Some of those chaotic scenes we saw under Humza Yousaf, his predecessor, really damaged
06:25
the SNP, I think, not always of Humza Yousaf's fault.
06:29
He was dealt a very bad hand in the aftermath of Nicola Sturgeon's resignation.
06:34
We saw those kind of scenes of police raids, the arrest of high profile SNP figures.
06:39
We've got that police investigation into the SNP yet to be resolved.
06:44
But John Swinney has come in and it's not that he has managed to give the SNP a massive
06:48
electoral boost, he's not, but he has steadied the ship.
06:52
That's a problem for Scottish Labor, I think, because under Humza Yousaf, Anas Sarwar was
06:57
able to present himself as almost the kind of adult in the room, the sensible figure
07:02
in Scottish politics who would come in and kind of provide a bit of stability.
07:05
And I think that's a much harder message to sell when John Swinney is the first minister.
07:10
So it goes back to that first thing I was talking about, about that need for Scottish
07:14
Labor to create a compelling vision for Scotland and to sell it to voters.
07:18
Alistair, Keir Starmer, due to speak in Glasgow on Sunday, if his train or plane got
07:24
cancelled up, would that actually be a good thing for Sarwar and the party?
07:29
I mean, I think realistically, Keir Starmer is a problem at the moment.
07:33
Yeah, the unpopularity of the UK Labour government is a problem for Scottish Labor.
07:36
In fact, it's probably their main problem.
07:38
And it's certainly the hardest one for Anas Sarwar to solve because it's outside of his
07:42
hands. He really needs Keir Starmer to start delivering on some of the things he's been
07:46
talking about, to maybe kind of turn, I mean, a year, as I say, is not a very long time
07:52
to do this, but to create a kind of narrative that the economy is turning round, that
07:55
people's lives are getting better.
07:57
He maybe needs Keir Starmer to make a few more announcements around Scotland.
08:00
Labour tend to focus a lot on GB Energy, but the problem with GB Energy is that, you
08:05
know, no one really knows what kind of impact it's going to have.
08:08
You know, it's very difficult.
08:10
It's a difficult thing to sell to voters in the sense of describing exactly what it is
08:14
as a bit of a mouthful.
08:15
So they need a few more things, I think, to come out and to say this is what we're doing
08:20
for Scotland. So this is what UK Labour government is delivering for Scotland.
08:24
For Anas Sarwar, that's what he needs to hear for Keir Starmer.
08:27
And I think it'll be interesting when Keir Starmer comes up on Sunday and he addresses
08:31
conference, as we expect him to do so, and to just hear exactly what his message is,
08:36
because I think he'll be conscious that, you know, as far as Scottish Labour are
08:39
concerned, he's perceived as part of the problem at the moment and he will want to
08:42
address that.
08:44
Certainly, you mentioned GB Energy with energy bills going up again in the first couple
08:49
months of this year. It becomes a tough sell if you're talking about the benefits of
08:53
GB Energy to those who are going to be voting next year.
08:58
Alastair, thanks for joining us.
09:00
You'll be able to read everything coming from the team.
09:03
We've got Alastair Grant, David Boll and Rachel Armoury at Scottish Labour Conference
09:08
throughout today, and we'll be covering it across Saturday and Sunday as well.
09:12
So Scotsman.com is your one stop shop for all the latest news from the conference.
09:17
Alastair, thanks to you and thanks to everyone else for joining us.
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5:43
|
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