48 hours to boot out the Tories, says Sarwar as election nears end

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has said Scots have 48 hours to “get rid of this rotten Tory Government”.

With the General Election reaching its end, Mr Sarwar said the “stakes could not be higher” on July 4, with voters facing a “stark choice”.

Trumpeting his party’s message throughout the election campaign, Mr Sarwar said there would be “change with Labour”.

“For 14 years the Tories have caused economic turmoil and human suffering across Scotland – but in just 48 hours we have the opportunity to boot them out,” he said.

“The stakes could not be higher in this election.

“On Thursday, Scotland faces a stark choice between five more years of Tory sleaze, chaos and failure or change with Labour.

“A Labour government will deliver the change that Scotland needs by cutting bills, boosting pay, tackling insecure work, creating jobs, renewing public services and delivering economic growth – but change only happens if you vote for it.

“In two days’ time, let’s make sure we get rid of this rotten Tory Government and deliver a Labour government with Scotland at its heart.”

Scottish Tory chairman Craig Hoy, however, said it was a “straight fight” between his party and the SNP in key seats across the country.

“If people vote for the Scottish Conservatives, we can end the SNP’s independence obsession for good and switch the focus on to the public’s real priorities. A vote for any other party risks the SNP candidate winning,” he said.

“The Scottish Conservatives are the only party standing up to the SNP.

“Labour, in contrast, agree with the SNP on a host of issues, including raising taxes, abandoning tens of thousands of oil and gas jobs and endangering women’s safety with their gender self-ID policy.”

SNP social justice spokesman and Glasgow East candidate David Linden said the Tories were “finished” after the election, but added the campaign has “exposed the fact that Sir Keir Starmer isn’t even offering to fix the mess the Tories have made”.

“He is sailing into Downing Street by playing it safe and saying nothing,” he said.

“The real choice on the table for Scotland on Thursday is whether we give Starmer a free pass to impose more cuts, more Brexit, and more of the same – or elect a strong team of SNP MPs who’ll hold his Labour Party to account and who will always put Scotland’s interests first.”