STEPHEN Flynn has labelled Anas Sarwar “less hard man, and more hard man to find” during his speech to SNP conference.
The SNP’s Westminster leader said his party must “embrace the humility and honesty of defeat in order to renew our relationship with the Scottish people”.
“[We should show them] that we can speak again to their aspirations and that we have the competence to deliver for them and their families,” he said.
Flynn also hit out at the new Labour government, saying that the “hopeful promise of turning the page on the Tories” had only been replaced with a “promise of painful politics”.
The SNP MP specifically took aim at Sarwar for his failure to stand up to his bosses in Westminster.
He said: “I seem to remember very carefully placed media articles promising that Anas Sarwar would be the first man to stand up to Keir Starmer (below) and his government if he disagreed with their decisions.
“We were promised that he would be the hard man of Scottish politics and wouldn’t be found wanting in standing up for Scotland.
“Turns out he’s less hard man, and more hard man to find.”
Most recently, we told how Sarwar was labelled “spineless” for failing to condemn Keir Starmer’s decision to restrict the Winter Fuel Payment in a move Scottish Labour branded a “desperate attack”.
He has also faced criticism for previously telling John Swinney “Read my lips, no austerity under Labour.”
Flynn said that the Tories had left a “shocking inheritance” and that “I think I even remember John Swinney saying that once or twice during the election campaign – or maybe I wasn’t reading his lips properly”.
The MP added: “[Sarwar's] tucked away trying to think of the latest excuse to justify the shifting sands coming from his bosses in London.
“And conference, when it comes to Anas and his arguments – it’s time to put one thing to bed.
“If you are a Unionist, if you believe that economic policy should be primarily set in London, please stop this nonsense that the economic and budgetary position in Scotland is somehow nothing to do with Westminster.
"You can't on one hand boast about the so-called broad shoulders of the Union while at the very same time wash the other hand of any responsibility for the financial decisions that same Union imposes.
"The seriousness of the situation we face demands better. The Scottish people will not be treated as fools."
Speaking on Scottish independence, Flynn said it was important to be “honest” and acknowledge there has “never been and never will be a seamless path to self-determination".
He told conference: “At times over the last few years we should admit that we were sometimes guilty of giving that impression.
“I understand why that happened. Sometimes the non-stop nature of modern politics fed the strategy of one last push.
“But the intense immediacy of that narrative doesn’t serve the need for patient persuasion of those who still need to be convinced.”
The Sunday National has approached Scottish Labour for comment.
