Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has challenged First Minister John Swinney to a series of head-to-head debates ahead of the Holyrood elections in May. He said he wanted one such debate to take place in every region of Scotland, each focusing on a different policy area devolved to the Scottish Government.
Mr Sarwar framed the election as a choice between “the failures of the past with John Swinney or a better future with me as first minister”. Polls currently put Labour behind the SNP, and Mr Sarwar acknowledged he is the “underdog” going into the contest. He also conceded that the UK Labour government “haven’t got everything right” and that some voters are “angry, frustrated and impatient”, but insisted the Holyrood election is about “the direction our country takes”, not protest.
To secure victory, Mr Sarwar said Labour would deploy an election fund currently “sitting at £1 million, and rising”, with nearly £500,000 raised over the holiday period alone. He promised the “largest and most effective ground campaign of any party”, including “one million conversations about Scotland’s choice”, alongside “the most sophisticated and largest digital operation” reaching one million Scots every week.
Responding to rising support for Reform in Scotland, Mr Sarwar said he relished “confronting and defeating Reform”, adding that Nigel Farage “does not care about Scotland” and “does not want to fix Scotland”. He positioned himself as “the only candidate standing to beat the SNP and replace John Swinney as First Minister”.
Mr Sarwar accused Mr Swinney of wanting to make the election about “anything but his record”, saying the First Minister should defend his record if he believes in it. He challenged Mr Swinney to debates covering the NHS, schools, housing, justice, local government, transport and the economy. “I have the hunger, I have the energy, I have the ideas, I am up for the challenge. Is John Swinney?” he said.
