Labour criticism of UK and Scottish governments focuses on public services

Nicola Sturgeon announced yesterday that she wants to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence in October 2023. The First Minister has asked the Supreme Court to rule on the legality of the Scottish government holding a consultative referendum without permission from Westminster. If the move is deemed unlawful, Sturgeon said the SNP would make the next general election a “de facto referendum” by having independence as the party’s only policy. Addressing MSPs following Sturgeon’s statement, Anas Sarwar said: “The pandemic Nicola that said she wanted to pull us through is gone, and the partisan Nicola Sturgeon that wants to divide our country is back, pursuing a referendum that two-thirds of Scots don’t want right now.”

The Scottish Labour leader highlighted the pressing issues currently facing the country, including an NHS waiting list of more than 700,000 and a massive backlog in mental health appointments for children and young people. He accused the First Minister of reneging on her promise to focus on Scotland’s post-Covid recovery and said she has instead decided to “pit Scot against Scot and focus on her priority, her obsession and her purpose”. Lisa Nandy similarly denounced Sturgeon’s announcement on the broadcast round this morning. The Shadow Levelling Up Secretary said the First Minister had “some brass neck” and declared that her plan has “nothing to do with the interests of Scotland” but is instead focused on the “interests of the SNP”.

The crisis in public services is a key focus for Labour both in Scotland and nationally. Nandy will shortly give a speech to the Local Government Association (LGA) conference and is expected to warn that there is a “perfect storm” looming for essential public services. The Labour frontbencher will demand that the government take action on rising cost pressures and specifically call on her opposite number Michael Gove to meet with trade unions and employers to discuss how to alleviate pressures on councils, stressing that the country “doesn’t need a Grant Shapps tribute act” (a reference to the Transport Secretary’s failure to act to avert last week’s rail strikes).

Writing for LabourList last week, councillor Antonio Weiss argued that reviving public services must be a central part of Labour’s offer to voters and outlined a five-point plan for how the party can achieve this goal. We also have a piece from Liam Byrne MP, in which he argues that Labour needs to set out a three-term shaped project with security at its heart. And regular contributor Morgan Jones has written for us, discussing the emphasis placed on ‘being local’ in parliamentary selections: “Is this an apolitical approach, where ideology can become subsidiary to more granular concerns? No one worries that Lanarkshire born Keir Hardie did not understand the concerns of the people of Merthyr Tydfil, which he represented in parliament as the first Labour MP.”