JOHN Swinney has poked fun at Scottish Labour’s leader as he voted with the Scottish Conservatives on Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking at FMQs, Swinney took aim at Anas Sarwar following yesterday’s debate in which MSPs rejected a motion from the Scottish Tories “condemning” free bus travel for asylum seekers.
The Parliament instead voted for an amendment tabled by Shona Robison which effectively erased all of the Tories’ motion, replacing it with a statement welcoming action on the Winter Fuel Payment and two-child benefit cap.
Scottish Labour MSPs abstained on this particular vote but STV’s Colin Mackay reported that Sarwar had voted with the Tories after “pressing the wrong button”.
Speaking at FMQs, Swinney told Sarwar: “There was only one member that didn’t vote for that motion last night and that was Anas Sarwar.
“It wasn’t that he didn’t vote for it once, he managed not to vote for it twice.”
Not only did Sarwar side with the Tories on Shona Robison’s amendment, he then failed to vote with his own MSPs on the amended motion a second time.
Shouts of “careless” could be heard from Robison while other MSPs jeered the Scottish Labour leader.
Swinney added: “All I can say to Mr Sarwar is this – if the one thing you’ve got to do in a day is turn up and vote the right way and, most importantly, vote against an odious motion from the Tories, at least you could be competent enough to do it on the one occasion.”
