Yes, Prime Minister, it is time for a change – a change of government - Ian Murray

“Be in no doubt: it is time for a change.” Rishi Sunak’s conference address yesterday was one of the most deluded and desperate speeches of modern political times.

​Not even Liz Truss had the brass neck to suggest that a party in power for 13 years that had wrecked everything could offer change.

And it’s not often that a party leader writes their opponents’ lines for them.

Sunak has clearly been taking tips from the SNP, which has been peddling the same desperate message in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election campaign.

The only way to deliver change is by ditching the tired and failed old governments which have been in power for too long.

That opportunity starts today with voters in South Lanarkshire handed the chance to send a clear message to the SNP and Tories that enough is enough.

Come Friday morning, I hope to be joined on the green benches of the Commons by another Scottish Labour colleague, Michael Shanks, who will be a fantastic local champion for his constituency and will focus on what really matters – not the constitution or culture wars, but tackling the cost-of-living crisis, rebuilding public services, and growing our economy.

If he is elected, Michael will offer a fresh start for people in for Rutherglen and Hamilton West who have been let down for so long – a fresh start that signals change is coming right across the UK.

Real change, not the fiction of change that Sunak talked of yesterday. The PM knows that he is spouting nonsense of course. When Sky News asked him if he would still be Prime Minister after the next general election, you could tell he didn’t believe his own answer.

He is simply too weak to take on all the competing factions and contenders already competing to replace him.

Suella Braverman’s incendiary speech was not aimed at the country; it was aimed at Tory Party members who will vote in next year’s Conservative leadership contest.

The Tories are looking inwards and talking only to themselves at a time when the country needs good governance more than ever.

This week’s chaotic conference in Manchester will be in stark contrast to Labour’s conference in Liverpool next week.