Scotland Office will be ‘draped in a Saltire’ and ensure every department delivers for Scotland if Labour wins, Anas Sarwar says

The Scottish Labour leader also claimed every aspect of democracy was “broken”.

The Scotland Office will be reformed to focus on making sure every Government department delivers for Scotland if Labour wins, Anas Sarwar has claimed.

Speaking at an Institute for Government event, the Scottish Labour leader pledged to drape the department in a “Saltire” and also claimed reform of the House of Lords could happen in Sir Keir Starmer’s first term.

Mr Sarwar also pledged to “reset” devolution, saying every aspect of democracy was currently “broken”.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar claimed it should be a legal duty for administrations to work together.

Asked how he would increase the number of Scottish Labour MPs, the Scottish Labour leader claimed showing how Westminster can change the lives of people in Scotland was vital.He said: “That wider purpose is, first of all, is how do you have MPs here that are there to stand up for their communities? Therefore leveraging and delivering for Scotland.

“Second, how do you turn the Scotland Office in on itself? Right now it feels like the Scotland office is draped in a Union Jack and is there to be the eyes and ears of the UK government in Scotland, rather than fighting Scotland's corner across the UK.

“We would fundamentally change the Scotland Office. It would be draped in the Saltire and be Scotland's voice across the UK, and there to be the delivery unit for Scotland to make sure every single department is delivering for Scotland.

“Thirdly, we will reset devolution, I think this is probably one of the single biggest and most important things we can do in 2024 and 2025.

"I honestly believe we can end the era of division in 2024 and 2026 because I think the frustration is, as the architects of devolution, as the party of devolution, sadly in the last 13 to 15 years, devolution has lost what it was in terms of its founding principles.

“Devolution has become about two governments fighting each other, and failing Scotland, rather than cooperating with each other and delivering for Scotland.

“We would fundamentally reset what devolution is”.The former Glasgow Central MP also claimed a Labour Government would “reset devolution”, and vowed to make a legal duty cooperation between Government’s.

He explained: “Every layer of our government and every layer of our democracy is broken, and that’s why we need fundamental reform of the Lords, the House of Commons, the Scottish Parliament, and local authorities and local government across the country. So I think we’ve got to have fundamental reform of all of it.

“I think the one warning sign that I would send is that you could have the best devolution model in the world, but if you have bad faith actors, you will still see conflict that fails Scotland.

"The tragedy now is, we’ve got bad faith actors on both sides. You’ve got a UK Government that doesn’t believe in devolution and therefore undermines it on a regular basis, and a Scottish Government that believes devolution is a game, and want to use it as a conflict.

"I think making a legal duty of cooperation between our governments is really important”.

The Scotland Office has been approached for comment.