Sarwar: Talk of Labour supermajority is nonsense
The Scottish Labour leader stressed that the final outcome of the election is not known.
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Your support makes all the difference.Talk of a Labour “supermajority” has been described as “nonsense” by the party’s leader in Scotland.
Sir Keir Starmer’s party has been leading in the polls for months, with senior Conservatives warning of the need for an effective opposition after July 4 as a reason to vote for their party.
But Labour has sought to guard against complacency, with a leaked memo from campaign chief Pat McFadden – as reported by the BBC – talking up the number of undecided or uncertain voters across the UK.
It's nonsense to even suggest we will get a supermajority
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Show, Anas Sarwar said: “It’s nonsense to even suggest we will get a supermajority.
“Not a single vote has been cast.”
He added: “We still don’t have end results from this election and every vote for Scottish Labour in this election is of course to make sure we get rid of the Tories, but it’s also to put Scotland at the heart of a Labour government and to deliver the change that this country needs.”
MPs elected by parties bound for opposition, Mr Sarwar said, will “shout, protest, but ultimately come back with nothing”, while Labour MPs will “sit around the table, help make decisions and change their home communities, Scotland and the UK for the better”.
Mr Sarwar was also questioned on confusion – claiming some politicians were “deliberately confused” – about proposals for GB Energy.
During a visit to Scotland earlier in the campaign, Sir Keir Starmer said the firm – which will be headquartered north of the border – will be an “investment vehicle” rather than an energy generation company.
Speaking on Sunday, Mr Sarwar said: “If you look at what generates energy, it’s wind turbines that generate energy, it’s hydrogen that generates energy, it’s solar and tidal that generates energy – that’s the water, that’s the sun.
“It’s not actually those that invest that generate the energy.
“So we will make the investments in the offshore wind, onshore wind, which will be investments, for example, on the turbines.
“Those turbines will generate energy that will produce profits and the fruits of that profit won’t got to Norway, won’t go to Denmark to fund their public services – the fruits of that profit will stay here in Scotland and the UK.”
The best way to support our farmers is to rejoin the EU to deliver more funding for our farming, fishing and rural industries
Those profits, Mr Sarwar said, would bring down people’s bills, grow the economy, create jobs and deliver energy security.
Also on Sunday, the Scottish Labour leader visited the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh, where he said a beefed-up Scotland Office under a Labour government would be “Scotland’s window to the world”.
But the SNP said Labour “can’t back Scottish farming and back Brexit”.
“The best way to support our farmers is to rejoin the EU to deliver more funding for our farming, fishing and rural industries – but instead the Labour party’s policy boils down to the stupid slogan that they will ‘make Brexit work’,” said Perth and Kinross-shire candidate Pete Wishart.