{"id":83073,"date":"2025-05-07T23:14:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T23:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/83073\/"},"modified":"2025-05-07T23:14:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T23:14:16","slug":"swinney-or-me-says-sarwar-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/83073\/","title":{"rendered":"Swinney or me, says Sarwar \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Anas Sarwar has said that Scots face a simple choice at the 2026 Holyrood election: him or John Swinney.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The Scottish Labour leader accused the First Minister of wanting to \u201cdefraud\u201d the people of Scotland and use Nigel Farage as a distraction from what he described as his failings in government.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Mr Sarwar also said that he would not be Sir Keir Starmer 2.0 if he won the next national ballot in Scotland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Responding to a question from the PA news agency in Glasgow, he declared he would be \u201cAnas Sarwar 1.0\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/news\/uk\/direct-train-services-between-newcastle-and-brighton-planned-AZF3F2CHJ5KALC7NY7DC2EX6VI\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Direct train services between Newcastle and Brighton planned\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1746659653_941_7F7YV6HNK5NI7F25ZNPSUE5G3M.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"The Scottish Labour leader was asked if he would be Sir Keir Starmer 2.0\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/T3RIME5MJZIHLOT7DHFITGQHKQ.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>The Scottish Labour leader was asked if he would be Sir Keir Starmer 2.0 (Stefan Rousseau\/PA) <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">He said that his party represented change and a new direction for the country, echoing the message of Labour\u2019s UK general election campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Asked if he would be Sir Keir 2.0 for Scotland, Mr Sarwar said: \u201cI\u2019ll be Anas Sarwar 1.0 and I\u2019ll be change from John Swinney and the SNP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThe reality is, you referenced the slogans or strap lines, we fought in a campaign of change last year and we elected 37 brilliant Scottish Labour MPs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cWe are going to deliver change next at the Scottish Parliament elections and elect a whole host of new Scottish Labour MSPs, many of those fantastic candidates sitting either side of me, because we\u2019re ultimately determined to use the great power of government to improve people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"525\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In one year, Scots will have a choice: a third decade of the SNP or a new direction for our country with Scottish Labour. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BNr3cJIdoa\">pic.twitter.com\/BNr3cJIdoa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Scottish Labour (@ScottishLabour) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ScottishLabour\/status\/1919997627547934788?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">May 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cAnd that\u2019s why, again, and I\u2019ll end at this point \u2013 next year it\u2019s a straight choice: John Swinney or me, the SNP or Scottish Labour, the NHS in decline with them or fixed with Labour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cOur education standards in decline with them or a new direction for our young people with me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cSafety and security on our streets with us or a continuation of people feeling unsafe, not able to see a police officer with the SNP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cAn addiction to wasting people\u2019s money, billions of pounds lost with the SNP, or respect of public money with me \u2013 that\u2019s the choice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s the choice, that\u2019s the frame of the election next year, and we\u2019re going to win that election when people of Scotland.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">During his speech, Mr Sarwar said the SNP had run \u201cout of ideas\u201d and that Scots faced a third decade with the party in power or a new direction with Labour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">He warned that the 2026 Holyrood election would be the \u201cmost consequential in the history of devolution\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"POLITICS Elections\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/53WWB7FXKFNZJDBE3CYWV7BNJY.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"623\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Labour\u2019s popularity has dipped, according to polling, since its landslide victory in July.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">It lost more than 180 councillors in last week\u2019s local elections in England and lost an MP to Nigel Farage\u2019s Reform UK, which also won two mayoral seats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The First Minister has issued warnings about the rise of Reform UK, which he said he considered far right.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Last week, he said it was a \u201creal possibility\u201d that Mr Farage could become the prime minister of the UK.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Mr Sarwar accused Mr Swinney of using the Reform leader as a \u201cbogeyman\u201d to distract from his record.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Anas Sarwar said Scots faced a choice: John Swinney or him\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IQHXDRMNEZOJRCCOF6Q43NHXPI.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>Anas Sarwar said Scots faced a choice: John Swinney or him (Jane Barlow\/PA) <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">He told the crowd in Glasgow: \u201cInstead of dealing with its own failures, John Swinney will recklessly talk up Nigel Farage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cFarage is John Swinney\u2019s new power to replace the Tories but, the truth is, I don\u2019t care about Nigel Farage, and Nigel Farage doesn\u2019t care about Scotland.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">He added: \u201cJohn Swinney will talk about anything apart from his record.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cWell, I want to deliver for the people of Scotland and with his shameful tactics, John wants to defraud the people of Scotland, but the people of Scotland know better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Commenting after the speech, an SNP spokesperson said: \u201cAnas Sarwar will be whatever Keir Starmer tells him to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anas Sarwar has said that Scots face a simple choice at the 2026 Holyrood election: him or John&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5009],"tags":[40150,31136,748,918,4884,7852,807,40151,384,285,386,712,18695,10004,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-83073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scotland","8":"tag-2026-scottish-parliament-election","9":"tag-anas-sarwar","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-glasgow","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-john-swinney","14":"tag-keir-starmer","15":"tag-labour-uk","16":"tag-nigel-farage","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-reform-uk","19":"tag-scotland","20":"tag-scottish-labour","21":"tag-snp","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114469094323263402","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}