Labour 'will put Scotland at heart of government' - Anas Sarwar

Scotland will be at the heart of the next UK government if Labour are elected, Anas Sarwar has said.

The Scottish Labour leader told delegates at his party conference that the SNP and the Tories were the "very best of frenemies", using each other as cover for their own failings.

"The Labour party has more ambition for Scotland," he said.

It follows a double by-election win in England - despite a recent antisemitism row over parliamentary candidates.

Labour overturned Conservative majorities of 11,220 in Kingswood and 18,540 in Wellingborough, where the 28.5% swing was the second biggest from the Tories to Labour in any post-war by-election.

During his speech, Mr Sarwar took aim at the Tories' record on the economy, with the country now in a recession, as well as the push to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

He also criticised the SNP's relationship with local authorities, citing recent cuts to services in order to fund an unexpected council tax freeze.

The SNP are "no longer trusted by the people of Scotland," Mr Sarwar said, describing the "industrial scale deletion of evidence to the Covid inquiry" and the "failure" to prioritise recovery after Covid.

Mr Sarwar told delegates that Labour will fund 160,000 new NHS appointments each year through the money raised from scrapping the non-dom tax status.

Scottish Labour says the tax change will result in £134m of additional health spending in Scotland.

Mr Sarwar has vowed to spend "every penny" of this in Scotland's NHS, with a focus on tackling waiting lists, with the money projected to generate the equivalent of 160,000 appointments for diagnostics and procedures each year.

And he reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in Israel and Gaza - which differs from Sir Keir Starmer's call for a "sustainable" end to the fighting.

Ahead of the conference, Mr Sarwar claimed he and Sir Keir "ultimately have the same position" on the conflict during an interview with the BBC.

Bringing his speech to a close, Mr Sarwar described the next general election as being the most important for a generation said it was an "opportunity to reject the politics of division and despair" and "our opportunity to restore integrity, trust, and hope in our politics".

He added: "Yes, the coming election is an opportunity to get rid of this rotten Tory government, and to tell the SNP that we've had enough of you failing Scotland and its people.

"But it's more than that - it's an opportunity to change our country.

"Our chance to elect a Labour government, to put Scotland at the heart of that government and to change our country for the better."

It comes after Labour suspended two parliamentary candidates in the past week over comments about the conflict in Gaza.

Gareth Jones, the former Labour MP for Hyndburn, is facing an investigation over comments he allegedly made about Israel.

The party withdrew support for their candidate for the Rochdale by-election, Azhar Ali, for apparently making antisemitic remarks.

Sir Keir has received criticism for failing to withdraw support from Mr Ali sooner.

When he became Labour leader in 2020, he promised to tackle antisemitism saying he would "tear out this poison by its roots".

Meanwhile, Sir Keir also said last week that he had no choice but to ditch Labour's £28bn a year green investment pledge.

It represented a major scaling back of the party's plans to invest in green industries if it wins power, following weeks of confusion about the policy.

The Labour leader said it was no longer affordable because the Tories had crashed the economy.

And he told the BBC that Labour would still spend more than the Tories on green projects if it wins the election, and was committed to "clean power by 2030".

Hundreds business leaders in the north east of Scotland have signed an open letter to Sir Keir, warning that the party's energy policies will lead to job losses on a scale similar to the coalmine closures of the 1980s.

The letter from Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce says that extending the windfall tax on oil and gas profits and removing investment allowances would cost around £20bn in lost revenue to the UK Exchequer, as well as threatening the country's energy security.

Earlier Mr Sarwar told BBC Scotland the party's green prosperity plan was "still there" and a centrepiece of their growth plans.

On an upcoming election, he added: "I think the election comes down to this choice. The SNP want to send MPs in Scotland to sit opposite a government and shout at it.

"I want to send a government where we send Scottish Labour MPs who will sit in government round the table and help make decisions."

It was a long speech to a packed hall, focused more on rhetoric than the weeds of policy.

Anas Sarwar knows a general election is looming, and therefore every set piece moment like this is a chance to pitch to voters.

And his message is clear: he believes Scots are tired of both SNP and Conservative governments, and he sees Labour as the antidote.

He wants to talk up the opportunities that governments of the same colour at Westminster and Holyrood could offer.

From tax reform, to the NHS, to selling Scotland abroad, Anas Sarwar says Labour in power at both a UK and Scottish level will lead to cooperation that will ultimately deliver for Scots.

There's no doubt Anas Sarwar and Sir Keir Starmer are politically close. Though there are areas of divergence, such as the issue of a Gaza ceasefire - an issue Anas Sarwar made a point of raising in his speech.

This raises questions regarding who tells Scottish Labour MPs how to vote - the bosses in Scotland, or the whips at Westminster?

A final thought: this speech was the Anas Sarwar show. An introductory video showed the Scottish leader smiling, chatting, and shaking hands. Few other Scottish Labour figures featured.

Party insiders see their leader as an asset. And it's likely the general election campaign in Scotland will revolve largely around him.