House of CommonsThe SNP must offer hope to Scots in the face of “Labour Party austerity cuts and misery”, Stephen Flynn will say.
The SNP’s Westminster leader will echo calls for optimism from First Minister John Swinney when he makes Saturday’s keynote speech at the SNP conference in Aberdeen.
The Aberdeen South MP is expected to say that Labour has already begun to break its promise of changing the UK for the better.
“Change was a powerful, simple and winning slogan,” he will tell delegates at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
“But for many people in Scotland and beyond it was much more than just a word – it was a promise.
“The promise of totally transforming the way in which politics works after 14 years long years of the Tories. And it’s that promise which is already being pulled apart.
“Because only 8 weeks on, that hopeful promise of turning the page on the Tories has been replaced with the new Labour promise of a painful politics this autumn.”
Flynn will speak as the SNP conference enters its second day. It’s the party’s first conference since Swinney became FM and the first since the party’s battering at the General Election.
Swinney is one of eight SNP MPs who returned to Westminster in July – down from 48 in 2019.
Friday saw the three-day event kick off with a two-and-a-half-hour closed-door meeting examining the recent election result.
Speaking to STV News after the session, which was chaired by the FM, Flynn said his party had lost the trust of voters due to its priorities and delivery in government.
On Saturday, he will use his speech to attack Labour’s pessimism around the current state of the UK.
Quoting Starmer’s speech where he warned “things will get worse before they get better”, Flynn will accuse the Prime Minister of inflicting “painful” cuts and tax rises on Brits.
“The Prime Minister is all too eager to assure us that the worst is yet to come,” he is expected to say.
“You will all know that one of the oldest saying in politics is that you campaign in poetry and govern in prose.
“Labour has gone one step further – campaign in poetry and govern painfully. From the poetic promise of change to things can only get worse.
“Taking a hammer to public services seems apt for a toolmaker’s son.
“The SNP must offer hope in the face of Labour Party austerity cuts and misery.
“Our argument, our belief and our offer to the Scottish people is that Brexit Britain is not as good as it gets.
“We believe that decisions made in Scotland, for Scotland can deliver a better future for all.
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