Exclusive:SNP accuses Labour of lacking policy ideas and identity as Anas Sarwar poised to set out divergences
A row has erupted as the SNP and Scottish Labour are poised to kickstart their bids for Bute House ahead of May’s election.
Scottish Labour will draw up “substantial policy divergences” with the SNP ahead of May’s Holyrood election - amid claims from opponents the party is out of ideas and is failing to carve out what it stands for.
Anas Sarwar’s team is poised to thrash out key differences with John Swinney’s party, but a source close to the Scottish Labour leader has warned the election will not be won on policies but “a vibes-based decision” on whether Scotland needs a new government.
The SNP believes that since Scottish Labour’s conference in Paisley last month, where Mr Sarwar urged uncertain voters to “hold their nose” and vote for him, the party has lacked its own ideas - bringing forward less-ambitious versions of previous SNP pledges.
A senior SNP source told The Scotsman that “it’s not entirely clear what Labour is trying to do”.
READ MORE: Anas Sarwar pleads with Scots to 'hold your nose' and back his bid to beat SNP as Labour in disarray
They added: “It looks like they are already running on empty.
“A lot of what we've heard since Anas Sarwar's car crash conference speech has been watered-down versions of our ideas.”
SNP Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan claimed she was “not sure anyone knows what Labour stands for”.
She added: “That’s an extraordinary position to be in when you have been supposedly preparing to be in government for all this time.
“Despite having all that space and time to prepare, I think if you go out into the street today, nobody can tell you what either Keir Starmer or Anas Sarwar stand for. That is a shocking state of affairs for the Labour party.”
But Scottish Labour has refuted the criticism, insisting that the party will make a more realistic offer to the public than the SNP has amid a narrative the party of government has consistently failed to deliver on promises.
A senior Scottish Labour source warned that their party and the SNP “both inhabit the same place” politically, adding “there are no new ways to reinvent the wheel with the constrained powers of the Scottish Parliament”.
“There are places where our policies and theirs will be radically different”, the source added.
A key dividing line emerging in health policy is the SNP ramping up walk-in GP surgeries while Labour wants to ensure the role of the family GP is maintained in attempts to end the so-called 8am rush for appointments.
The senior Labour source argued that the SNP “cannot deliver on its bold promises”, including a £10,000 shared equity offer for first-time buyers and a huge expansion of childcare, both announced by Mr Swinney at SNP conference two weeks ago.
Labour’s prospectus is expected to end Scottish ministers being able to shirk responsibility for lacklustre public bodies and a focus on long-term planning, seen by the party as missing form the SNP’s thinking.
The Labour source added that the SNP’s offer will involve “leveraging huge amounts of debt onto an already debt-laden government” and may be forced to “pull the rug” on the promises after the election.
The party insider said: “We think there’s a crisis in trust in politics. We don’t think that’s exclusively down to the SNP, but we think that we have it worse in Scotland because of the SNP.
“The election is not going to be won on policy. Ultimately, people are going to make a decision on whether they think Scotland needs a new government or whether they quite like the one they’ve got. That’s going to be a vibes-based decision.”
Scottish Labour deputy leader, Jackie Baillie, said: “Scottish Labour has been very clear in what it stands for – ending SNP incompetence and fixing the basics.
“The SNP’s election campaign so far has consisted almost entirely of personal attacks, gimmicks, and rehashed policies which are being sold as something new years after the SNP failed to deliver them.
“John Swinney has been at the frontline of Scottish politics for almost 30 years. The idea that he has something new or exciting to offer the people of Scotland is farcical – and the SNP know it.
“The trouble for John Swinney and his tired, clapped-out party is that after 19 years in office, everyone knows what they stand for – broken public services, a neglected NHS, lies and division, deceit and cover-up, all while looking for someone else to blame.”
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