Achi news desk-
Many of them held tables decorated with the word “change.”
Opinion polls suggest the party – which won just one Scottish seat in the 2019 vote – is on course for a stunning comeback at the next general election.
READ MORE: Can the SNP win back voters they have lost to Labour? What polls tell us
The average opinion polls carried out in May put Labour, on 37% of the vote in Scotland, ahead of the SNP by 6.5 points.
According to the analysis of polling expert and Herald columnist Mark McGeoghegan, that would be enough for Labor to win 33 seats to the SNP’s 14.
Nevertheless, while support for the SNP has fallen, support for independence has remained constant, around 48%.
Speaking to journalists after his speech, Sir Keir told the Herald that Labor and independence supporters shared “common ground.”
“If you want change, you can have change with a Labor government.
“By now there may be differences as to what the final destination is, but there is a lot of shared ground there in relation to change and so I understand that feeling.
“I think that by voting Labour, that is a vote for change and a vote for a better Scotland and ultimately, I think that is what drives so many people who want the best for them themselves, their family, their community and their country.
“I think that’s completely understandable.”
Opinion polls suggest that two fifths of SNP voters in 2019 will support Scottish Labor at the next election.
When asked if there was tension, Anas Sarwar said he was not worried.
“And the reason why is that if you look at the age range that has the most significant support for independence in the opinion polls, those aged 20 and under, for example, who haven’t lived a day of u life as an adult in a stable. United Kingdom.
“They lived with the chaos of Brexit, the chaos of Boris Johnson, the chaos of David Cameron, the chaos of Liz Truss, and now the chaos of Rishi Sunak.
“We’re in this election campaign, it’s not about independence, it’s about change.
“And I recognize that there are so many people in the past who have voted for the SNP, but have been sympathetic to independence because they think that is the only way to escape this Tory government .
“They somehow thought it was the parachute or the life jacket and what we are saying directly to those people in this election campaign is that we may disagree in the end over at the Scottish end of the journey, but we all agree that change is needed at the moment.”
Mr Sarwar said the party did not support and “does not currently support another referendum.”
“But we recognize that people in Scotland want change.”
He said he hoped that in the longer term a Labor government could convince independence-supporting Scots that “we can make the UK work for Scotland.”
In his speech Sir Keir hit out at the SNP. He said John Swinney’s party only wanted to “send a message” to Westminster.
Sir Keir said: “Send a message? That is the height of the SNP’s ambition – to send a message, a protest, in Westminster.
“I don’t want Scotland to send a message, I want Scotland to send a government, a Labor government.
“A Labor government that can stop the chaos and division, can turn the page and rebuild Scotland and Britain. We need that change.
“There is no change without Scotland, there is no Labor without Scotland, Scotland is central to the mission of the next Labor government.”
Asked if he would work with John Swinney if he could not secure a majority, Sir Keir said there would be “absolutely no deal with the SNP”.
The Labor leader added: “That’s not just a matter of maths, that’s because there’s no way a new Labor government could ever work in any way with the SNP, whose only ambition is to break up the United Kingdom.”
READ MORE: Matheson and Branchform overshadow the SNP campaign launch
Sir Keir said he wanted his party to take “every seat we can win here in Scotland”.
He said: “This is also personal. If I am privileged enough to come in and serve as prime minister of the UK, I want to be the prime minister of the UK for the whole of the United Kingdom and that includes Scotland.
“Beyond the numbers, having a strong Scottish Labor representation sitting on the government benches is important to me in terms of the way I want to govern, namely for Scotland and with Scotland.
“Yes, the numbers are important, but there is something very deep about the way I see politics, which also relates to the type of government we want to form.”
The SNP’s Alison Thewliss claimed that Sir Keir and Labor had “no vision beyond the status quo”.
He said: “If the incoming Labor leader’s priorities don’t include getting rid of brutal austerity-driven Tory policies, £9,250 tuition fees, and an unelected House of Lords, then what exactly are they for ?
“In reality, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labor Party prioritizes no change at all and offers nothing but more of the same to the people of Scotland.
“We have a rotten Tory Government that deserves to be pushed out of office, but Sir Keir Starmer clearly has no vision beyond the status quo.”
Ms Thewliss added: “Thankfully to the people of Scotland, there is an alternative to the Tories with the SNP, who will not only stand up for these values, but have put their money where their mouth is – abolishing tuition fees in Scotland and committed over a billion pounds to support families affected by the worst of Tory austerity policies.”
