Scottish Labour acting leader Jackie Baillie has called on First Minister John Swinney to end what she describes as the SNP's "gesture politics" and focus on improving lives across Scotland. In her Daily Record column, she says the SNP Government must urgently get to grips with the problems faced by voters.
Writing as MSPs return to the Scottish Parliament, Baillie notes that almost four months have passed since the Scottish election. The SNP were re-elected, which will take them to more than 20 years in government in Scotland. She says that during that time, Scotland has become worse off under their stewardship, with growing NHS waiting lists, shameful numbers of drug and alcohol deaths, too many people sleeping rough on our streets, and public trust eroded by SNP scandal after SNP scandal.
Independence referendum plan criticised
Baillie says she is disappointed with the election result but hopes the SNP learn from past mistakes and chart a better path for the future. However, she points to John Swinney's intention to bring forward draft legislation to push for another independence referendum, calling it "straight out of the Nicola Sturgeon playbook" - a failed strategy that ultimately hit Scottish taxpayers in the pocket in legal bills when the issue was brought before the Supreme Court.
While she disagrees with independence, Baillie says she respects everyone's view and understands the frustration of supporters desperate for a change from the status quo. But she argues that Swinney dusting off a tired and failed strategy from a decade ago will do nothing to improve the lives of people across Scotland in the here and now.
Call for delivery on bus fares and public services
Baillie highlights that people are struggling with the cost of living, struggling to get an NHS appointment, and struggling to see how things get better. She says this new parliamentary term needs to see an end to the gimmicks and grandstanding, noting that the Scottish Parliament has the power to tangibly improve people's lives right now.
She cites bus fares as an example, pointing out that the SNP promised that within 100 days of a government led by John Swinney, a £2 cap on bus fares would be expanded across the country. That 100 days is tomorrow, she writes, and yet there is no sign of the SNP delivering on that pledge. She says time and again, the SNP talk the talk but fail to deliver.
In this new parliamentary term, Baillie says we must see NHS waiting times reduced, the attainment gap narrowed, social care given the funding it needs, and the housing emergency properly addressed. While those issues remain outstanding, she says John Swinney and the SNP must quit the grandstanding and gesture politics.
Homelessness and child poverty
Baillie says she was encouraged to hear new Prime Minister Andy Burnham speak about his drive to eradicate rough sleeping, calling it a disgrace that in 2026, we still have thousands of people every night sleeping rough across the UK. In Scotland, 34,067 households were classified as homeless by local authorities in 2024-25, including 38,674 adults and 15,046 children, which she calls a national shame.
She notes that it was May 2024 that the Scottish Government declared a national housing emergency, and yet the dial has hardly moved in terms of tackling this problem. Baillie says Andy Burnham is right to make this aim a driving mission of his government, but this must be a UK-wide effort, and with housing devolved to the Scottish Parliament, it is imperative that SNP ministers step up to match that ambition. She adds that Scotland ended the need to sleep rough before when it was a Scottish Labour Government, and must do it again.
Baillie notes that John Swinney has repeatedly stated that eradicating child poverty is his single most important objective. This week, she says, he has the chance to prove that when setting out his Programme for Government, and she urges him to take that chance.
Finally, she comments on the announcement that a TV drama based on the scandalous embezzlement of SNP finances has been commissioned by Channel 5. She says she wishes it were fictitious, but we really do live in a reality where those at the top of the party of government stole hundreds of thousands of pounds from members of the public, adding that sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction.
