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ANAS Sarwar will lead Scottish Labour to its “biggest defeat” in the devolution era, according to a former party MSP.
Neil Findlay, who represented Labour at Holyrood for a decade until 2021, resigned from Scottish Labour after 35 years following the UK Government’s cuts to disability benefits.
On Tuesday, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said that the Labour Government would cut Personal Independence Payments (PIP) by £5 billion per year by 2030, leading to widespread condemnation from charities.
Findlay said in a furious letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer that he was “betraying Labour's proud history and lay[ing] waste to any claim of moral principle”.
Now, in an interview with The National, Findlay has also hit out at Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who has so far defended the cuts despite some opposition from his own MSPs.
“We were told, when Richard Leonard was the leader of the party in Scotland, that they just had to get rid of Richard and then the adult would come back and take over the Labour Party and march to victory,” he said.
“And I actually think Anas will lead Labour to its biggest defeat in the devolution era.”
It’s a prediction that was echoed in a poll last month. A Norstat poll – commissioned for the Sunday Times – showed that just 18% of voters intend to back the party at the next Holyrood election in 2026.
This would lead to Scottish Labour losing four seats, leaving the party with only 18 MSPs.
“I think Sarwar's going to take Scottish Labour to a humiliating defeat,” Findlay added.
“And it's partly of his making, but a huge amount of that is due to Westminster Government, which he is loyally standing by. And I think that's a very foolish approach.”
Findlay stressed, however, that he despairs more generally at the state of politics in Scotland and the UK.
“All of the established parties are complicit in the state of the country,” he said.
“If we look at the current situation in Scotland with regards to the Scottish Government, they've been in power for about 17 years, and there's not a single public service improved in that time.”
Findlay added: “And then if we compare that to the travesty that's playing out at Westminster with the Labour Government, we really are up shit creek in terms of where things are at the moment.”
