Anas Sarwar said John Swinney “had his moment of fun” after he appeared to have voted alongside the Tories on Wednesday over free bus passes for asylum seekers.
The Scottish Labour leader said he “made a mistake” and pressed the wrong button after every other Labour MSP abstained from the vote during Wednesday evening’s Budget debate.
It meant he was the only politician to vote alongside the Scottish Conservatives.
The awkward moment for Sarwar came up during First Minister’s Questions, where John Swinney blasted his political opponent for failing to vote against an “odious” motion from the Tories.
He said: “If the one thing you’ve got to do in a day is turn up and vote the right way, and most importantly, vote against an odious motion from the Tories, at least you could be competent enough to do it on the one occasion.”
STV NewsThe moment came up during the First Minister’s final answer on education on Thursday, meaning Sarwar was unable to defend himself in the chamber, but later admitted to STV News he made a “genuine mistake” when voting on the issue.
Sarwar told STV News: “Look, John Swinney had his moment of fun from my mistake last night. I might have made one mistake last night and put in pushing the wrong button…or maybe two mistakes in pushing the wrong buttons, but I think the SNP has been making bigger mistakes in the last 17 years.”
When pressed on the issue and asked if he was embarrassed after he appeared to side with the Tories, he replied: “Look I pressed the wrong button, people make mistakes…but the more important point is the big mistakes the SNP are making on education and health are impacting on Scots every day and that’s why we need that change of direction in 2026.”
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