Scotland will become clean energy superpower under Labour, pledges Anas Sarwar

After 14 years of Tory chaos, this General Election hasn’t come a moment too soon.

The need for change is clear – people across Scotland can see first-hand the damage this dysfunctional Tory government has done to our country. We see it in our communities, in our bills and payslips, and in our public services.

This election is a fork in the road for Scotland – it is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.

It is a straightforward choice between five more years of decline with the Tories and change with Labour.

At the heart of Labour’s plans for change is a plan for jobs, because that is the answer to so many of the challenges we face.

Good, well-paid jobs will lift people out of poverty, strengthen our economy and put more money in the public purse.

Under the Tories, our economy has tanked and working people have suffered – but this isn’t as good as it gets.

Scotland is brimming with talent and potential, it is just being squandered by two governments bereft of ambition.

At Scottish Labour’s election campaign launch last week, Keir Starmer recalled a visit to Whitelee windfarm near Glasgow.

As the biggest onshore windfarm in the UK, Whitlee is a testament to Scotland’s vast potential as a clean energy superpower – but most of its turbines were built abroad.

Every turbine is the collective effort of engineers, manufacturers, logistics experts and more, but on the SNP’s watch, these jobs are going overseas.

For Labour, tackling climate change and creating jobs go hand in hand. If we can imagine a better future in the green energy transition, we also shouldn’t forget the past.

Turning Scotland into a clean energy superpower means nothing if it leaves Scots behind. I am proud that Scottish Labour stood by coal mining communities when Margaret Thatcher’s government abandoned them.

Today’s SNP and Tory governments are set to repeat history by refusing to plan for the future. The SNP has created chaos with its constant u-turns on energy policy at a time when the industry is crying out certainty.

It has sided with massive multi-nationals over struggling Scots, forcing workers to pay more tax while insisting the oil and gas giants making record profits should pay less.

Meanwhile, the Tories and their revolving cast of self-appointed Prime Ministers have played fast and loose with the economy, creating havoc for working people and making it impossible for businesses to plan ahead and invest.

Both parties have forgotten about working people. We know Scotland can innovate. We’ve led the world in steam power, textiles, video games and now renewable energy. We’ve used innovation as a springboard to create more jobs, not less.

That is why it’s so important that, as we move towards a cleaner and greener Scotland, we ensure that this is a transition which creates jobs not takes them away. In total Labour’s transformative Green Prosperity Plan will create 69,000 jobs right across the country.

This includes 53,000 clean power jobs in industries like offshore wind, carbon capture, hydrogen, and solar – all driven forward by a publicly-owned GB Energy company headquartered right here in Scotland.

Our Warm Homes Plan will create another 16,000 jobs including plumbers and construction workers, as well as delivering warmer homes and lower bills for thousands of Scots.

We will make Grangemouth home to the industries of the future, with a decarbonisation hub and linked carbon capture and storage project. Right across the board, we will not only create jobs but improve conditions and make work pay.

Angela Rayner’s New Deal for Working People will fundamentally re-write the rules of work for millions of workers.

Labour will scrap exploitative zero-hours contracts, delivering security in work for millions of workers across the UK and for thousands of workers in Scotland – shamefully the zero-hour capital of Britain under the SNP.

That is the difference a Labour government will make in Scotland. The SNP is trying to convince Scots that it doesn’t matter who wins the next election, but every single person suffering at the hands of this economically illiterate and morally bankrupt Tory government knows that isn’t true.

A Labour government will deliver change for Scotland – creating jobs, increasing pay, strengthening workers’ rights, renewing our economy and boosting funding for public services.

While the Tories put their own interests ahead of the national interest, a Labour government led by Keir Starmer will be on the side of working people.

There’s just one set of jobs that we don’t need to worry about saving – and that’s out-of-touch Tory Ministers.

On July 4, Scotland can do more than send a message to Downing Street – we can send a Labour government with Scotland’s voice at its heart.

Every vote for Scottish Labour is a vote to get rid of the Tories and to maximise Scotland’s influence in government.

Together, we can deliver the change that Scotland needs.

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