Michael Marra's punchy and grown-up brand of Labour strikes easy target at first FMQs
A punchy performance and a genuine olive branch - but will Michael Marra’s more grown-up brand of Scottish Labour last?
Michael Marra didn’t miss the open wide target as he sparred with John Swinney for the first time as newly-crowned Scottish Labour leader.
Hot from being appointed to the job that surely no-one in Scottish politics would want, the North East MSP came across as a more grown-up version of his predecessor.
Despite piercing the SNP government, quite rightly, over Scotland’s soaring drug deaths, Mr Marra looked like a man determined to make an impact. Or at least try.
It is only early days, but it felt like Mr Marra meant what he said.
READ MORE: Why so many men are being killed by Scotland's drug deaths crisis as synthetic substances take hold
Yes, Anas Sarwar believed deeply in highlighting issues and failings in Scotland’s NHS and some of it was heartfelt.
But on occasion, particularly in the lead-up to May’s election that was a complete disaster for Scottish Labour, the now-former leader, who quit to take up a peerage, looked as if he had one eye on how the clip would look on social media or trying to do over the SNP.
It cannot be ignored that all MSPs are obsessed with clipping themselves in the chamber and sticking it on TikTok. But Mr Marra’s first exchanges with the First Minister, at first glance, felt like a determined need to finally get something done about Scotland’s horrific drug deaths.
All party leaders raised Scotland’s drug deaths, which have increased by 11 per cent in the space of a year. The issue is politically-devastating for the SNP and all opposition leaders piled in.
Reform UK leader, Malcolm Offord, gave one of his better performances - although the bar has been on the floor - but still failed to cut through with a coherent line. Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay recovered from accidentally calling Mr Swinney “Jinny” to hit out at the blame being shifted to Westminster “for the SNP’s fatal culpability”.
But Mr Marra on his first outing as FMQs as party leader, stood out as a punchy opponent but a willing partner on the inescapable tragedy of Scotland’s drug deaths crisis.
He highlighted a previous decision made by SNP ministers back in 2013 to withdraw Valium prescribing that many believe has helped fuel a surge in so-called “street benzos”.
“Pandora’s box was opened and drug deaths in Scotland skyrocketed”, Mr Marra warned.
“We cannot go on like this”, Mr Marra pleaded.
Over the weekend, Mr Marra suggested his party need to stop focusing on middle class voters and be taken seriously as also appealing to working-class voters.
“If this were a middle-class epidemic, we would have locked down, legislated, found the money, educated widely and reformed indiscriminately”, he warned.
The Scottish Labour leader then urged the FM to “change course and bring a new plan to parliament”, insisting that his party “will work with him on it”.
Mr Marra’s olive branch was met by the SNP leader - who went on to highlight the difference in tone from the Scottish Labour leader and other party chiefs on the same line of questioning.
It is very early days, but it appears that Mr Marra is serious about getting things done at Holyrood. That will, at times, require swallowing any pride Scottish Labour have left and agreeing to work with the SNP government to show the public they are worth voting for. But in the short-term and tribal nature of Scottish politics, only time will tell whether Mr Marra falls back into his party’s old habits.
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