What Labour has achieved in its first year in office – Anas Sarwar

An end to austerity, improving the lives of working people across the country and strong international leadership are just some of the achievements of the Labour government in its first year

Today marks a year from the general election. A year from the day that the people of Scotland led the way in redrawing the political map of all of the UK. We all remember the moment the exit poll was announced.

The Tories were out of office and out of power for the first time in a decade and a half. And the SNP, who had dominated the Scottish benches since the tidal wave of the 2015 election, were now decimated – with enough MPs left to fit in a campervan.

It was a moment of seismic political importance. Scottish Labour – written off by every pundit and pollster from Kirkcudbright to Kirkwall – were once more Scotland's largest party. The people of Scotland put their faith in Labour and they put Scotland right at the heart of a Labour government.

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Keir Starmer and Labour supporters celebrate winning the general election last year (Picture: Ricky Vigil) | Getty Images

Years of Tory incompetence

As I promised the morning after the election in the Glasgow sunshine on the banks of the Clyde, “the first steps of change we have promised start now”. And in the last year we have begun the work to deliver the change that the people of Scotland voted for.

Faced with a country and an economy shot to pieces by years of Tory incompetence, austerity and corruption, the Labour government has rolled up its sleeves and started the work of rebuilding our country.

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Key to this is our game-changing ‘New Deal for Working People’ – the biggest upgrade to workers' rights in a generation – which is ending the scandal of fire and rehire that has undercut the pay and conditions of so many Scottish workers.

We are scrapping exploitative zero-hours contracts in Scotland – once the zero-hours capital of the UK. And we are delivering a pay rise of up to £1,400 for 200,000 working Scots, putting money into the pockets of working people with a record increase to the living wage.

This is the change we are delivering to the world of work. But it is just one example of the positive change this Labour government has made to lives across the country.

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Liz Truss, above, ‘remains the gold standard for incompetence on a colossal and unmatched scale,’ says Susan Morrison. Picture: Jacob King/PA Wire

Ending austerity

We have ended the economic chaos and instability of Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, delivering strong economic foundations. We have worked to cut £1,000 from the average mortgage for homeowners, helping families across Scotland.

Our transformative budget has delivered record levels of funding – ending the age of austerity once and for all. And here in Scotland, it means a record settlement to the Scottish Government to invest in our public services.

We have got to work to establish GB Energy, a new energy company owned by the people of our country. And the Labour government has reset our relationship with Europe – trashed by successive Tory governments – to make travel with the EU easier for visitors and to tear down needless and penalising barriers for trade.

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Global influence

It is on the world stage that this Labour government has truly proved its worth and its grit. From the outset, Keir Starmer led from the front – ending the age of embarrassment of Boris Johnson and the Tories.

Keir stood foursquare behind the Ukrainian people in their fight against Russian aggression, making a visit to Kyiv in the first weeks of his premiership to pledge our support to their cause. We have strengthened calls for peace and de-escalation in the Middle East, for a ceasefire in Gaza, for the free flow of aid, and for an end to illegal settlements and siege.

We haven't just spoken about the need for peace, we have acted to make that happen. We have held the Israeli government to account and sanctioned the extremist ministers, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, for their actions. And we have continually pressed for the release of all remaining Israeli hostages from the hands of the terror group Hamas.

This is the international leadership that this Labour government has delivered over the last year. No more an isolationist Tory laughing stock, but the UK leading from the front and proud in the world again.

International leadership, an end to austerity, and improving the lives of working people across the country – these are just some of the achievements of the first year of a Labour government.

Bringing down energy bills

But the fact remains that there is much still left that needs to be done, and many issues on which we need to go further and faster to deliver for the people of our country. It's clear that we need to continue to act to bring down energy bills.

That's why we have established GB Energy and that is why Labour has delivered billions of pounds of new investment for nuclear energy. But here in Scotland, we are missing out on the jobs and investment that nuclear can bring due to the ideological opposition of the SNP. That's why Scottish Labour will end this block to deliver jobs and investment and bring down bills.

And while Wes Streeting oversees falling NHS waiting lists, here in Scotland waiting lists remain high – this needs to end. People don’t just want to hear about the change Labour is delivering, they want to feel it.

They want to feel in their pay packets, in their bills, in their communities, in their public services. The work Labour has done over the last year is taking us in the right direction, but our ambitions go so much further.

That's why I will work day and night to deliver the new direction Scotland needs.

Anas Sarwar MSP is leader of the Scottish Labour party