Sarwar promises housebuilding 'revolution' and affordable rent

Anas Sarwar has pledged to build 125,000 new homes over the next five years as part of a "housebuilding revolution" if his party comes to power in May's Scottish election.

The Scottish Labour leader committed to expanding affordable rents and establishing a new housing investment bank in his speech at the party's conference in Paisley Town Hall.

He told party members the bank would invest in land regeneration, offsite construction, and help finance the expansion of mid-market rentals.

Sarwar said voting Scottish Labour on 7 May was the "only way" to end the SNP's presence in government.

The Glasgow MSP added: "In ten weeks, Scotland faces a real choice: a third decade of SNP failure, or a Scottish Labour government that will get Scotland building again."

Scottish Labour's plans also include a "£1 homes scheme" to bring empty and derelict properties back into use, as well as new construction apprenticeships.

Sarwar said: "Fixing the housing crisis is how we lift people out of poverty, create jobs, grow the economy, and give more families the chance to own a home.

"It is scandalous that in a country like ours there are people sleeping rough on our streets. So a commitment I make again is that I will act to end rough sleeping once and for all.

"That is my ambition for Scotland: homes to live in, jobs to build them, and a country where every child has a place to call home."

Sarwar went on the attack against Reform UK, describing them as "Tories in disguise" who "don't care about Scotland".

He told the conference in Paisley how he started his career as an NHS dentist in the town.

"I saw the direct link between health inequalities and the lack of economic opportunity and the impact poverty had on people's lives," he said.

"And I never believed the answer was to shrug your shoulders and say, we can't fix this."

Sarwar also spoke about the challenges facing the NHS in Scotland.

He criticised the Scottish government's handling of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital scandal and pledged to pass Milly's Law, in memory of Milly Main and other patients who died after contracting an infection while undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Scottish Labour would "scrap failing health boards" and create a new system of governance "rooted in transparency", he said.

Sarwar said he would declare a "national waiting times emergency" on his first day as first minister, to ensure patients are treated sooner wherever there is capacity.

He also pledged to improve workforce planning in the NHS, with flexible working and better career progression.

He said Scottish Labour would "always maintain free university tuition".

But he added that NHS students on publicly funded places would be expected to work in Scotland's NHS or social care system for at least five years or repay their tuition and bursaries.

The party would ban phones in schools, back teachers on discipline, deliver breakfast clubs in every school in Scotland and create 9,000 new apprenticeships "in key growth sectors".

The Scottish Labour leader also pledged to restore community policing.

"Too much police time is taken up responding to mental health crises," he added. "That's not right for police, and it is not right for people in crisis.

"They need care from specially trained mental health professionals.

"So, we will build a better future by creating a new mental health emergency service, so people get the right support from the right individual, and police can focus on preventing crime and keeping our communities safe."

More housebuilding and golden handcuffs to keep newly qualified NHS professionals in Scotland for at least five years unless they want to payback the cost of free tuition.

These were the two headline policy announcements from Anas Sarwar's keynote address to Labour's Scottish conference.

But above all his speech was a sustained effort to frame the Holyrood election contest as a choice between a Scottish government led by either the SNP or Labour.

He's trying to corral anti-SNP votes behind his party to challenge for power, despite opinion polls suggesting that Labour is in a fight for second place with Reform UK.

Building momentum is not easy when Labour has just lost the Denton and Gorton by-election in greater Manchester to the Greens, finishing third behind Reform.

Sarwar's only consolation from that result is that it may help justify his earlier decision to distance himself from Keir Starmer by calling for him to quit as prime minister.