Starmer and Sarwar Push Reform Agenda to Win Over Scottish Voters

The UK Labour leadership emphasizes delivery and reform as they face challenges from the SNP and internal policy tensions.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar are focusing on a unified strategy to position Labour as the party of change in Scotland ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election.
Starmer has pledged to prioritize 'delivery, delivery, delivery,' emphasizing reforms to public services and tackling child poverty through broader measures rather than welfare alone.
The SNP has committed to policies such as reintroducing universal winter fuel payments and scrapping the two-child benefit cap by 2026, pressuring Labour to address these issues at both the UK and Scottish levels.
Starmer criticized the SNP for what he described as mismanagement of additional Treasury funding, arguing that the money is not being used for transformative change in Scotland.
Labour's challenges include addressing criticism of their own policies, such as ending universal winter fuel payments, while presenting themselves as a credible alternative to the SNP's 19-year rule in Scotland.