Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has launched a scathing attack on Nigel Farage after his party's by-election win, declaring there is "no constituency" in the country that Reform UK can win.Speaking to GB News, Sarwar took aim at Reform UK "nonsense" and addressed viewers of the People's Channel directly, telling them there is "one choice" at the ballot box to take down the SNP.FULL STORY HERE.
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00:00Right, Ben, with me now is Anasawa, the Scottish Labour leader.
00:03Anasawa, you are delighted by last night's win.
00:06You said in your victory speech moments ago
00:09that you wanted Keir Zahmer to go further.
00:12What did that mean?
00:13Look, what I'm saying here is that we've got to listen
00:15to what the voters told us here.
00:17And ultimately, they told us three things.
00:19One, they want rid of this SNP government
00:21that's done so much damage to our country over the last 18 years.
00:24I know that'll be a feeling felt by many GB News viewers in Scotland.
00:28And the only way of getting rid of the SNP
00:31is by supporting Scottish Labour next year in the Scottish Parliament elections.
00:34Don't listen to the noise or the nonsense from reform
00:36or indeed some of the commentators on GB News
00:38who want to amplify the nonsense of reform.
00:41Instead, listen to what's happening here in Scotland.
00:43If you want rid of the SNP, only we in Scottish Labour can do it.
00:47Secondly, they have rejected actually the politics of Nigel Farage and reform.
00:51And third, they've also made clear that they do want a UK Labour government
00:54to go further and faster and demonstrably improve in their lives.
00:58And I think that's a message we've heard loud and clear.
01:00But you were surprised by last night.
01:01You went against the odds against what most people thought would happen.
01:04Look, I wasn't that surprised.
01:06Of course, we knew we were in the race.
01:07We didn't think we were guaranteed to win.
01:09I think the most people that are surprised are the political pollsters,
01:12the pundits, the commentators and the bookies
01:14who, frankly, all got it wrong.
01:17And we proved to them that the circumstance on the ground
01:19is very different than what they want to commentate on.
01:22They might want to focus and fixate on the rights and wrongs of a UK Labour government.
01:25They might want to fixate on issues that reform tried to bring to the table in this by-election.
01:30But what the people here care about is improving their lives
01:33and getting rid of this SNP government.
01:35So I say quite clearly and openly to any GB News viewer in Scotland,
01:39if you want to get rid of the SNP, if you want a change of government,
01:43if you want a different direction,
01:45whatever your views on a multitude of issues,
01:47next year the choice is this.
01:49A third decade of the SNP with John Swinney in charge
01:52or a new direction of Scotland with a Scottish Labour government.
01:55So if you want to beat them, you've got to vote Scottish Labour.
01:57Are you worried about the appeal of reform?
01:59They won 58 votes, 58 votes in 2021,
02:02more than 7,000 last night.
02:04They ran your team a close third.
02:07Why are people turning to reform UK in Scotland?
02:10Well, I think there's a few different factors.
02:12I think there was always quite a significant Conservative Party vote in this constituency
02:16that clearly has transferred en masse to reform.
02:20Secondly, there will be people who are frustrated with both governments
02:22and therefore chose to vote reform as the kind of protest vote in this by-election.
02:27But next year they've got a chance to change the government by supporting Scottish Labour.
02:30And third, some of them will have fallen for the frankly nonsense spouted by John Swinney
02:35where he pretended that this was a straight choice between the SNP and reform.
02:39So people thought maybe they had to support reform in order to beat the SNP.
02:43That is clearly proven not to be the case.
02:45So I say quite simply, if you want to get rid of the SNP,
02:48if you want to end the damage that has been done to our country by the SNP,
02:52if you want to get onto the right priorities, not the obsessions of the nationalists,
02:56then you have to support Scottish Labour next year in the Scottish Parliament.
02:58If they win, say, mid-20s MSPs going on last night's results on the list system next year,
03:04they may keep you out of office.
03:05You may have to form some form of coalition with reform to form a government.
03:09No, I don't accept that because the system here is, of course,
03:12you have the first-past-the-post seats and then you have the list seats.
03:16There is not a single constituency in the country that reform can win.
03:21And in the vast majority of constituencies,
03:23it is a straight choice between Labour and the SNP.
03:26So if you want to get rid of the SNP, you need to support Scottish Labour.
03:30And if we overwhelmingly win the constituencies,
03:33I believe that makes sure that we have a Scottish Labour government
03:35and the SNP are removed from office.
03:36What's your message now to Nigel Farage?
03:38He's probably bought a kilt now. He'll be up in Rothen, won't he?
03:40All I'd say is good morning, Nigel.
03:43Ian Lubarric.
03:43And I hope you enjoy the result last night.
03:46And it's very funny.
03:47Will you debate him on GB News?
03:49How do they do the election next year?
03:50Well, look, next year's election is not about Nigel Farage
03:53as much as Nigel Farage will want to make it about him.
03:55So in advance of that election,
03:57if Nigel Farage wants to challenge me on my views,
03:59no problem, I'll challenge him on his views.
04:02But next year, in the Scottish Parliament election,
04:04he can keep his nonsense elsewhere.
04:06Because the choice is not between Nigel Farage and Scottish Labour.
04:09It's not between Nigel Farage and John Swinney.
04:12The choice next year is a simple one.
04:14Either it's going to be John Swinney as First Minister,
04:16or it's going to be me.
04:17And if you want to end the rule of the nationalists,
04:19if you want to stop a third decade of them,
04:21if you want to end the risk of independence,
04:23if you want to stop SNP waste,
04:25if you want to end the wrong priorities of the SNP government,
04:28you only have one choice to do it.
04:30And that's by supporting Scottish Labour.