A DISABLED SNP candidate hoping to stand against Anas Sarwar has said Scotland’s welfare system is at risk if the Scottish Labour leader wins the seat.
Scott McFarlane, convenor of the SNP disabled member’s group, is one of the party hopefuls looking to stand in the Cathcart and Pollok seat.
McFarlane is visually impaired and was diagnosed as a baby with osteopetrosis, undergoing a life-saving bone marrow transplant at three months old.
McFarlane told The National that he was always going to choose the Cathcart and Pollok seat to stand in, but that Sarwar’s announcement that he would also be standing spurred him on.
He said: “It was always going to be that seat for me, but it became particularly important when Anas Sarwar put himself forward and then when Labour announced welfare cuts.”
Last month, the Labour Government announced a £5 billion package of welfare cuts, with a huge number of people now set to be denied the Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
McFarlane said that Sarwar had “fallen in line” with his London colleagues by backing the cuts, suggesting that he would do the same in Scotland if elected as first minister.
He added: “I would fully expect that Anas and the Labour Party will look to do similar type of cuts and changes to the system in Scotland that they did in England. That would cost lives for people in Scotland.
“We need to stop Anas and Labour getting anywhere near Scotland's social security system because people in Scotland will be hammered if he does.”
At the heart of McFarlane’s campaign is independence, which he said was “the only way to stop interference from Westminster”.
McFarlane continued: “Independence is the way we break from the cuts at Westminster altogether. Independence gives us the power to protect our services.
“No matter what Labour does in Westminster, having independence stops any interference in our system. It stops any opportunity for them to dismantle anything that's been built in Scotland.”
He told The National: “I fundamentally believe in Scotland we don't have the same mentality towards people like the disabled, the marginalised communities and others that there is in Westminster.
“Working with the disabled community, it's shown me that the ADP system in Scotland has been much better. There have been hiccups with the delay in getting started and people getting decisions, but in terms of the overall experience and the impact on mental health, it's made such a difference.”
'You need disabled people in the room'
McFarlane raised the importance of having people with disabilities in politics. If he is chosen as a candidate and elected to Holyrood, McFarlane said that he would be the first blind or visually impaired MSP since former SNP MSP Dennis Robertson.
McFarlane continued: “You need disabled people in the room. We've got lived experiences that others can maybe imagine, but obviously they've never experienced some of the barriers and hurdles that people face.
“I was recently at a conference with the SNP – I’d describe us as one of the most progressive parties in Europe, a movement that I'm proud to be part of, but even at that conference there was a number of issues that I had to flag up in terms of access to being able to read screens, access to the stage, and other things that just weren't thought about.
“That's why you need disabled voices in the room when policies are being decided. It needs to include us because without us, you're going to have barriers that are unintentional.
“You need those voices in the room, you need that that lived experience to really be represented.”
