Anas Sarwar has used his first conference speech as Scottish Labour leader to accuse the SNP and the Tories of practising “us v them” politics.
In a message preaching unity across the UK, Sarwar called for an “all of us” approach to ending child poverty and rebuilding the NHS.
It came as he demanded the SNP Government help the poorest pensioners pay their soaring energy bills.
Sarwar took over as Scottish Labour leader in February following the abrupt resignation of Richard Leonard.
Although he was credited with running a positive Holyrood election campaign, Labour slumped to its worst result in the devolved era.
With indyref2 a dominant issue, the party has struggled to regain a foothold in Scottish politics.
In his speech to delegates in Brighton, Sarwar did not mention a referendum or more powers for Holyrood once.
Addressing a UK audience, he said: “We need to present a different, more positive vision of Scotland and Britain. One that is outward looking, diverse and tolerant.”
“Despite what Nicola Sturgeon and the Tories want us to believe, Boris isn’t Britain. Our vaccinators, our NHS staff, our Social care staff, our postal workers, our retail workers, our key workers and all who pulled us through this pandemic - they are Britain.
“Don’t allow the SNP and the Tories to define Englishness. England isn’t Jacob Rees-Mogg, Priti Patel and Nigel Farage. England is Marcus Rashford, Gareth Southgate and Emma Raducanu.”
He said of the SNP: “The SNP are not progressive and they are not our allies.
“Let’s judge the SNP on their record. Attainment gap - widening. Child poverty - growing. Waiting times - getting longer. And the heartbreaking scandal of the highest drugs death rate in Europe."
Sarwar continued: “While the SNP revel in an 'us v them' politics in Scotland, across the UK we also have an 'us v them' Tory Government. A government with one rule for them, another for everyone else.
“Taking £20 away from the poorest families in the UK, while handing millions of pound deals to their friends.
“And we cannot defeat the ‘us vs them’ politics with our own version of ‘us vs them’. Instead we’ve got to build a campaign that is about all of us.”
On the climate crisis, he said the “eyes of the world” will be on Glasgow hosting COP26, but warned against a “just transition” that decimates communities: “We can’t allow a repeat of the end of mining, where communities were hollowed out, workers were stripped of their dignity and our industrial base was destroyed.
“That is the path that the SNP and the Tories currently have us on. The only way to avoid that injustice is to demand a Jobs First Transition.”
He confirmed the creation of an Energy Transition Commission, led by former Labour minister Brian Wilson, to create a “greener, fairer and more prosperous future”.
He also urged the SNP Government to increase winter fuel payments for pensioners in need:
“We should use it to increase payments by £70 to the lowest income pensioners to help them in the winter months.”
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