Lisa Nandy labels SNP 'terrible Government’ and says party wipeout in Scotland 'should have been a warning'

Lisa Nandy has labelled the SNP a “terrible Government" and claimed the party wipeout in Scotland “should have been a warning” for the red wall falling.

The Shadow Foreign Secretary claimed Labour lost “great” MPs in Scotland, and claimed Nicola Sturgeon’s party had an “appalling record”.

Speaking at a fringe event at Labour’s party conference, the shadow Foreign Secretary also praised Anas Sarwar as a great representative for Scotland.

She said: “I met some amazing people when elected, many of whom just five years later were ripped out in a tsunami that should have given us a sense of what was going to happen in the red wall.

Lisa Nandy, shadow secretary of state for levelling up, housing, communities & local government, speaks with Jim McMahon, shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs on the first day of the Labour Party Annual Conference. Picture: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

“The loss of those great MPs like Anas Sarwar should have been a warning.

“The loss of those MPs overnight with the sole survivor Ian Murray meant that conversation shrunk immediately and we had to work much much harder.

“We were given such a shot in the arm when Anas Sarwar was elected.

“We have to understand what is happening in Scotland, we have to reach out to people in Scotland.

Lisa Nandy claimed the SNP had been getting away with "portraying themselves as a cuddly left-wing party".

“Scotland has got two terrible governments, the SNP in Holyrood and the Tories in Westminster.

“If you want to do anything about that…you have got to go out and vote Labour.”

She added: “The SNP have for too long got away with portraying themselves as a cuddly left-wing party.

“I think we need to do two things: take them on, and call out what is a regressive ideology with an appalling record.”

Ms Nandy also claimed her party had been almost “nervous” about talking about Scotland, and urged them to do more.

Earlier Angela Rayner promised Labour would “rebuild” Britain while fighting for workers and their right to strike.

The Labour Deputy leader said her party would introduce a “fair work” standard to improve workers’ conditions alongside plans to overhaul Government procurement and outsourcing.

Ms Rayner told delegates her party would oversee the “biggest wave of insourcing for a generation” and give the self-employed the right to a written contract and “timely” payment.

On employment rights, Ms Rayner announced a “fair work standard”, adding: “It will underpin a new fair work code for the public sector, guaranteeing fair conditions, job security, wellbeing, proper training, rights at work, and union access.

“We will also create a fair work gold standard to champion the very best of employers, and a Labour government will be on the side of the self-employed too.

“We will give genuinely self-employed workers the right to a written contract and timely payment by law so they aren’t left out of pocket and chasing invoices.

“Because our fair work standard will raise standards for all.

"The Tories have broken Britain, but together we’ll rebuild it again.

On procurement, Ms Rayner said a “value for money guarantee” would “ensure that every single penny of taxpayers’ money provides the best possible value to the public”.

She explained: “It will no longer just be the giant corporations with the glossiest leaflet that wins. Everyone will get a fair chance,” she said.

Ms Rayner said Labour would raise standards by “clawing back the public’s money from those who fail to deliver for taxpayers”, saying “striking off failed providers” would ensure failure would not be rewarded, highlighting money lost on unusable PPE.

And she announced plans for a “public dashboard of Government contracts”, saying there would be “no hiding place for cronies and no corner for corruption”.

She also told the conference: “We will oversee the biggest wave of insourcing for a generation.”

“The Tories have become too dependent on handing away our public services on the cheap, and now we are all paying the price.

“We’ll reinstate and strengthen the Two-Tier Code, created by the last Labour government and scrapped by the Tories, to end the scandal of outsourced workers getting second class pay and conditions.”

She also warned that under Liz Truss the Tories “stand for vested interests” and are “coming after the most basic things that we expect – decent work, fair pay, the foundations of a family life”.

“So long as I have a breath in my body, I will defend those rights, and including the right to strike.

“And when in power we will repeal the anti-worker and anti-trade union laws this Conservative Government has enacted. All of it.”

The conference also saw Sadiq Khan suggest Donald Trump be made to sign a good behaviour contract before being allowed to rejoin Facebook.

Mr Trump’s Facebook and Instragram accounts were suspended for two years in June 2021 for posts stoking the violence ahead of the Capitol riot in Washington DC.

Speaking at a fringe meeting, Mr Khan said: “If it is the case that Donald Trump is a presidential candidate, if it is the case that he is applying to go back on Facebook, Facebook should have an agreement, a contract.

“He has got to sign up to things he is agreeing to do and not do as a term of taking part on the platform.”

The party will launch its Industrial Strategy on Monday, underpinned by a new statutory body, the Industrial Strategy Council (ISC) which like the Committee for Climate Change will ensure a future Labour government meets its commitments.

The ISC will report on Labour’s progress against the Strategy’s four ‘missions’ to drive economic growth, which are “delivering clean power by 2030, harnessing data for public good, caring for the future and building a resilient economy”.

Jonathan Reynolds, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, said:“A hallmark of this Conservative government has been to act in the heat of the moment and lurch from crisis to crisis. We know business can’t operate like that.

“The Strategy addresses a range of concerns facing business and workers including Labour’s plans to bolster Britain’s supply chains from future shocks, transform skills, and make Brexit work.

“In a clear break from the Conservatives belief in ‘trickle down economics’ Labour has outlined the importance of sustainable growth and bolstered employment rights to economic prosperity.

“While the Conservatives are dusting off the same tired old policies that got us into this mess, Labour is looking to the future. Businesses and workers want a partner in Government that can offer certainty, bringing with it the confidence to invest in Britain.

“Only Labour working in partnership with business and trade unions can deliver the fairer, greener future Britain deserves.”