YouSaid · the spoken record

Anas Sarwar

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59
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2026-04-19
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2026-04-19
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  1. “Listen, it's not his mommy's fault how he's turned out. I'm a defender of the mammies, by the way. I wouldn't be half the person I was if I wasn't for my mother. So I would say all the good things about me are because of my mother, all the bad things I take responsibility for.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “And they would actually tell me how they're getting more and more people making bookings and interested in more stops from American cruise ships than pre-election of Donald Trump. So if there is an opportunity to create that connection for positive tourism opportunities, then why not? I think there's a way of doing it without having to say that you agree with someone's politics.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “So, look, I think there is actually an opportunity. So I was actually in Stornway this week, and I was looking at the relatively new cruise liner terminal that they've opened at the port of Storny.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “So, post Scotland and the World Cup, a man being might never wear a kilt then if it was Scotland and the World Cup. So I don't know whether it is post an election or a son's wedding or something like that, but there'll be a kilt, Alistair, and I'll make sure I send you a picture of my knees when it happens.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “I don't have the pinky ring like Rory, though. That's the thing. That's the difference. So I've done Tartan Trews, obviously Tartan Wesco. I'll wear Harris tweeds. I've done the Tartan tie. But the actual, the reason why I've not, so it's funny because there's been a few occasions where I've thought about, right, I'll wear a kilt, but I've always said, so I will wear a kilt for the first time, but I want to wear it when it's something majorly significant”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “Honestly, my eldest, I'm not going to say anything about the other two, by the way, but my eldest is the most calm, sweet, sincere, hardworking you can ever imagine. They're the ones to watch.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “I think my eldest has read Rory's book. You were chinning my eldest yesterday for his dress code. He was very upset about that.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “Minister, do right by this country, demonstrate we can do politics differently, and then having done that, I want to make sure I'm spending my time nurturing, supporting my kids. And by that time you never know, I might even be a granddad, I can look after them as well.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “Undoubtedly Undoubtedly, brighter, better looking, the full shebang, but I think sacrificing two generations is enough, Rory. Let's not sacrifice a third. Look, the reason why I wouldn't want them to do it, and ultimately I'll obviously always back my kids in what they want to do, but I don't think they'd ever want to do it and I wouldn't want them to do it, is for all you, and I think about fatherhood a lot as you would. And I just think that I know how I had to create a alternative normal for myself when I was growing up. And I know that my kids have to do the same as well, where I've presented and projected unnormal, normal for them. And that comes with burden, comes with some opportunities, no doubt, but it comes with burden and it comes with some levels of hardship, particularly in the current climate of how politics is. So I want to serve my time as for”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “I think devolution has been a success, and I think it is a successful concept. I think the danger is that unless we start demonstrating the gains of leadership for this generation of the here and now, that the debate then becomes polarized between whether it's leave the UK or shut down the Parliament, and that would be a terrible, terrible place for us to be. So let's demonstrate that devolution can work. And actually, let's do the next step of devolution, which is take power out of Holyrood and give it to the regions of Scotland so that different parts of the country can flourish in a similar way that regional devolution has really worked successfully in England.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “Never taken responsibility, always finding somebody else to blame is the correct path. John Swinney's instinct has always been protect the party first, do what's right by Scotland second. And I just think that kind of politics, again, is something I've got no time for. I want to demonstrate that I will do what's right by Scotland, I'll put Scotland first and that Scotland can do differently than what we have just now. And I'm not going to pretend the S&P's got everything wrong in 20 years, but they've lost their way. They're out of ideas. They're out of energy. And we need a new generation of leadership in Scotland. And that's the positive offer I'll be making to Scots over the course of the next five weeks.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “Yes, and let's be honest, John Swinney has been the architect of much of this. John Swinney wants to pretend that he's now some kind of, I think the line he's using is a fresh start. Someone who's been in government for 20 years to claim that he is now the fresh start that our country needs, I think is frankly laughable. But I think there's something a bit more serious at play here. So look, how about a party operates? Of course, that's the subject of investigation and the facts of that have to be to come out. But let's look at how they functioned as a government. Is a government that thinks”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “Reform or NHS, how we grow Scotland's economy, let's have that kind of debate, let's demonstrate the best of Scottish politics rather than this kind of nonsense about Nigel Farage is going to be in bed with me, this and the next thing. The guy's a horror. I wouldn't touch him with a barge pole. I reject his politics. I want him gone. I can't wait till he gets gubbed at the next general election. And I hope we start the process of gumming them in this one.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “No, no deals, no coalition, no grubby backroom stuff. And the reason why I think it's really important is this is a political party in reform that literally spent tens of thousands of pounds on an advert saying that my first loyalty would not be to Scotland, it would be to somewhere else. Today they're launching a billboard campaign claiming that we are being overrun by rubber dinghies in Scotland. And also today they've repeated that they're opening to the idea of rerunning that ad in this election campaign. And I just think John Swinney has gone in the matter of a week in this election campaign from starting the first day of the campaign saying they were guaranteed to win to now saying don't vote Labour in this election because they're going to do some kind of grubby deal with reform. So therefore vote for the S&P again. It's desperate. Our politics seems to be much bigger and better than that. Let's have an argument debate about how we fix our schools, how we”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “Not doing any coalitions, any deals, any stitch-ups. Alex Salmon demonstrated actually in 2007 that you can do minority government and the parliament can work. And don't forget, in 2007, he did minority government and he went on to win a majority in 2011. And my intention is to hopefully win the majority of constituencies in this election and to form a minority Labour government and go back to what devolution was supposed to be about, which was try and find common ground on individual issues to make progress in our country.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “People say we couldn't win. We did the hard work to earn people's trust and to win the general election in Scotland getting a share of the vote that was a ten times increase in share of the vote in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK because we did the hard work and won people's trust in 2024. We did the hard work to win the Hamilton by-election where people say we were going to come third, one journalist even suggesting we will come fifth in that by-election. And now we're going to do the hard work to persuade people for this election. So we've got to earn people's trust and their support and be good enough to win. And for too long, sadly, in the last 20 years, we've not been good enough, and that's why we got beat.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “So there's a couple of things within that. One is I always joke that it's often better being lucky than good. And they've been very lucky with lots of circumstances that have happened across the UK and lots of what to campaign against. So Boris obviously was a contrast to Nicholas Surgeon through the COVID period, etc. But I think there's a more self-reflective part that we have to be honest about. They kept winning and we kept losing because we weren't good enough. And I set myself that challenge when I took on this job five years ago when everyone said the Labour Party was dead and it was just a shell when I took over five years ago is how do we get the Labour Party back on its feet, make it worthy of its name and make it worthy of people's support again? How do you earn people's trust? And we did the hard work to get ourselves back into second place in the council elections in 2022. We did the hard work to win the Rutherland by-election.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “Challenge is do we become a country that lets the politics of fear and blame and despair take hold and all the dangers that then poses to our country more broadly? Or are we going to confront it with a positive story about what the challenges are, how we change the country by bringing the country together in the process? And that's what I want to demonstrate we can do in Scotland. And that's what I think is a lesson for a UK Labour Party as well.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “Aren't of the same political values. I'm not going to pretend they are. I'm not going to pretend that the SNP and reform have the same view when it comes to right-wing politics. They don't have the same value system. It'd be churlish to even suggest that they do. But they do have one similarity. They both play the politics of fear and blame. Both fundamentally have an argument that says, identify a problem and point at a group of people or an institution and say it wouldn't be that problem if it wasn't for them over there. The SNP do it by pointing to Westminster or to London or to the UK and saying, we've got these problems in Scotland, we wouldn't have them if only we were away from that lot. And reforms say, look at this problem. If it wasn't for them over there usually pointing at a community, whether it's by race, religion, and saying we wouldn't have these problems if it wasn't for them over there, both feed off on us versus them, both feed off of fear and blame. I'm just done with that kind of politics. And that is, I think, our generational.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  20. “So I've always had a view, Alistair, the R chattering class in Scotland had a more progressive list of centre position than what would be the nuts and bolts of you pull people about priorities and different issues. So people often talk about, you know, the rest of the UK wants to be much more stringent and stricter on welfare, whereas Scotland wants to be really generous on welfare. Actually, if you look at polling, it's about two or three percent difference how people view the welfare state. Immigration again, people will think, oh, the rest of the UK, they really want to clamp down on immigration. They think immigration is a huge issue. People don't really care about in Scotland, but in actual fact,”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  21. “To the rest of the UK, how you can do change by bringing people together, not further dividing people. And also be an example to the rest of the UK that you can do it while telling a positive story about your country. And I think a lot of that's been what's missing since the UK Labour government got elected.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  22. “I'm not sure what you're suggesting. I'm defending. So, first of all, look, I'm not doing it to run against a UK Labour government. I'm running against a Scottish S&P government. But where I think I do think we can show and lead by example here in Scotland is we are going to bring down the tax burden in Scotland and demonstrate we can grow our economy and cut tax. We are going to reform our rate system to make sure we're not rigging it against high streets and town centres. But even bigger than that, if you think about the first conversation we had when we started this conversation around 45 minutes ago is we talked about the big challenge around the politics of the right, largely the politics of reform. I honestly believe in Scotland we will demonstrate to the rest of the UK how you can win in the politics of hope and unity, not feed off the politics of despair. And I honestly think we can be an example.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  23. “Question about the families. Every single question was about Peter Mandelson, the UK Labour Government, and the judgment calls on him being appointed as the US ambassador. And honestly, I'm just not willing to defend that. I'm not willing to defend what was someone who shouldn't have even been considered for the job of Ambassador, never mind be ambassador. And also, I'm not willing to sacrifice Scotland to that kind of argument and to that debate because who the government in Scotland is, who the First Minister is really matters to us in Scotland because our schools, our hospitals, our care homes, our town, cities, villages, it's our ferries, it's our transport system, it's our local businesses. And I'm no longer to sacrifice any of them because I'm not willing to be open and honest about what's happening across the UK or indeed what needs to happen here in Scotland.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  24. “Actually, remember it said you know exactly what I said, Rory and what my view is. And let me explain why. Let me explain why because I had spent weeks in the Scottish Parliament exposing the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital scandal where myself families impacted some of them who had lost loved ones, healthcare professionals who had been bullied and gaslit. We'd spent eight years campaigning to get truth and justice about what was happening at the infection situation at the hospital. And to this day, that hospital has not been validated and words verified. And so I was in Parliament making this argument of First Minister's questions. And honestly, if that was a hospital anywhere else in the UK, I believe it would be wall-to-wall news coverage every single day about how this could be allowed to happen. I came out of that parliament and got doorstepped by the entire Scottish press lobby. And I didn't get a single question about the hospital. I didn't get a single”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  25. “The context of Westminster genuinely, I was making abundantly clear that my first priority and my first loyalty is to my country Scotland and frankly, this might sound a bit harsh, I'd really care what people in Westminster think. I only care what people in Scotland think.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  26. “I stand by it. I don't recoil from it. And I think people need to understand what I did and why I did it. And there's lots of people I think that think about it in the premise of what it means for the ups and downs of individual Westminster politicians. And I think there's lots of people to think about it in the context of what does it mean for Westminster. But I think the misunderstand, but second also the reality of what's happening in Scotland. I am putting myself in front of the people of Scotland in the next five weeks, looking them in their eye, asking them to put their trust and faith in me. And I think people in Scotland deserve to know what do I stand for, what are my values, what am I willing to accept? What are my standards? And whether I will be honest, not just have a private view and say one thing in private and a different thing in public, but will I be honest? And what would I do differently? And lots of people have thought about what I said.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  27. “I think Ray know that is overpriced in the opinion polls. And at the same time, I think people underestimate how unpopular an S&P Scottish government is. And I think right now that's underpriced in the opinion polls. And my job over the course of the next five weeks or so is to persuade people that let's not pass a judgment on two years of a UK government. Let's pass judgment on 20 years of an SNP Scottish government. And this is what we would do differently using the power we have right now by pulling our country together rather than simply dividing it on those constitutional lines.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  28. “So, I think there's a couple of caveats to put on that first. First of all, this was always going to be a hard election and is a hard election, but one I still believe we can win. Secondly, if we hadn't won the UK general election, there is no chance we could have even be in contention for this election, because I think the politics of the UK would have been Tories re-elected despite all the scandal and chaos. And I think that would have been a very different approach between the SNP and another Tory government across the UK. I mean, I remember saying it to UK shadow cabinet and then very early UK cabinet that the election in Scotland will be much easier if it's a midterm of a popular Labour government rather than the midterm of an unpopular Labour government. So that is undoubtedly a challenge. I think there are two things in the analysis, though, that is missing in Westminster.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  29. “The exact same, particularly in North American market, but much more besides. So I want people to believe because it is Scotland's a great place to visit. It's a great group of people. It's got beautiful landscapes. But I also want big neon signs that say Scotland is also a great place to do business.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  30. “And inspires growth, regional economic development is a huge part of what's working in London. It's working in Manchester. We don't do regional economic development in Scotland. Instead, we treat Scotland as if it's one big homogenous block when the reality is the economic model for the islands and the islands is very different to Glasgow and the west of Scotland. Our enterprise agencies are huge, but we're spending on wage bills rather than actually investing in good quality businesses that need to get pushed over the line. We're good at startups in Scotland. We're not good at scale-ups in Scotland. How do we support those businesses to scale up and to grow? And the final bit, and you actually, you both are a good example of this, and you both will know this from your own lived experience, and you both travel a lot, is why don't we tap into the soft power of Scotland for economic benefit. Ireland does it brilliantly. It taps into Brand Ireland to attract investment, tourism and opportunity with the rest of the world, Scotland can do it.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  31. “In Scotland had grown at the same rate as the rest of the UK bar London, we would actually have £800 million more to spend on our public services every year. So to your question on what we would do differently is I want to be a First Minister that's a deal maker that gets things done, not just one that legislates and regulates. Secondly, our tax rates are too high in Scotland. How do we drive down tax rather than using it as a substitute for economic growth? How do we reform our rate system so it's rigged in favour of the town centres and high streets rather than against them with the online giants? Our planning system is archaic. How do we create a national planning agency so we can try and half the time it takes for a planning application because we are competing with the world where investment goes and we want the investment to come to Scotland. Our skill system, we are not creating the talent supply chain for our economy. So how do we partner business with colleges and universities so we do have that supply chain of businesses? How do our transport system that works?”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  32. “And use that wealth in a way to fund a functioning public sector, I think, is really important. How you inspire entrepreneurship and celebrate success is also really important. I think too often as a country, success is seen as quite a dirty word or ambition is seen as a dirty word when actual fact if we don't have entrepreneurship, if we don't have successful businesses, we don't have anything else because you only get social change if it's backed up with a strong growing economy. So I will always be an economics first politician. Secondly, let's be honest. Are we spending every penny of public money well? We're not. And so much of what is accepted and tolerated in the public sector would never be accepted or tolerated in the private sector or indeed in the third sector. So we've got to spend the money better in Scotland. But we've also got to not just keep slicing the cake into thinner and thinner pieces. We've got to increase the size of the cake. And if we fill the growth gap that exists in Scotland, so if our”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  33. “Wholeheartedly agree with you, Rory, because I think probably what makes me different from previous Scottish Labour leaders and gives me a different understanding about all these things. So I grew up in a entrepreneurial family. I spent lots of my childhood sweeping floors and my old man's warehouses stacking the shelves and seeing and taking lots of questions about buying margins and such like so thinking about businesses and costs. I then spent time in our public services, obviously being an NHS dentist in Paisley, and then have spent the last 16 years in politics. So I've got a view of all three of those different sides. And if I'm honest, I don't think more money is the answer. I think one, how you generate wealth.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  34. “So, look, I don't pretend to be something I'm not. I don't hide away from decisions either that I have made or my family have made about our kids or anything else. I've very much lived all my, since I was 12, all my life very much in the public domain. People know who I am. They can make judgments based on who I am. They've made those judgments since I became leader. They've made those judgments, obviously, in the election in 2024, and they'll make those judgments in this election campaign as well. But am I determined to deliver a country that gives every young person a chance and an opportunity? Absolutely I am. Because right now so many of our kids are written off at birth and that cannot be allowed to happen.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  35. “So every family will have conversations with their own household, every family will talk about decisions that they think are best for their child. And one of the things I've been really conscious of is that different kids in different ways will have different challenges in their lives. So I'm really lucky that I didn't have to worry about food on the table and bills when I was growing up. My kids are lucky in that same sense too. But how do we have an education system that works for every kid right across the country? And that's why I'm so determined to fix that going forward.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  36. “But do it differently? How do we invest in apprenticeships and how do we finally link the growth areas in our economy to the skills we need in our country around defence, around AI, around technology? All these are huge, huge opportunities for us. I know that's a really long answer to what your question was, but fundamentally I've always been a believer that the best route out of poverty is a good education, an adequate skill, and a well-paid job rather than simply thinking about a welfare payment. I believe in the welfare state, but it's a sticking plaster that doesn't challenge and end structural poverty. How are we going to end structural poverty in Scotland? It's through good education, good skill, good well-paid job.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  37. “Assistants round our teachers so we can make sure every kid in the class is getting the time they need. And the reason why I think that's really important is because if you imagine a class of 30 plus with one teacher, no classroom assistant, if 43% of that class has some kind of additional support need. If there is distractions in the classroom because of the mobile phone, if there's really bad discipline and behavior, just think about those kids in that classroom who that little bit of nudge extra time with their teacher could be the difference between them getting into an apprenticeship, a college place or university. That's life-changing for them. And right now we don't have a system that works for all those kids. So we have to change that and get all those things. And then when they leave school, how do we make sure we don't have this culture in Scotland that just says if you go to university, we're going to throw every kind of resource at you and you are the chosen ones. But if you don't choose to go to university, you are somehow written off. There is no one right path. So how do we invest in our colleges? How do we maintain free tuition?”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  38. “20%, and we have lack of discipline in our schools, partly with what happens with mobile phones, partly because we don't have in many places permanent contracts for teachers, too many resources taken away, and a curriculum for excellence that was introduced as a good concept, but actually does not promote excellence. Instead has seen the gap narrow between different social demographics more by the top coming down rather than raising everybody up. And that fundamentally has to change. So we will not scrap exams because I think you still need exams. Of course you do, but we have to change the culture that exists in our schools and the kind of education. So how do we have mobile phones banned in our classrooms so people can concentrate on their education, not on their brains being polluted by dopamine hits that come from algorithms or social media feeds? We can get discipline in the classrooms. How do we get more classrooms?”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  39. “I think the short answer is yes, we will take that different approach because the opposite would be an absolute dereliction of duty and will not be doing fair by a generation. So you're right, Rory. Scotland had this history and tradition of education and it being an example to the rest of the UK and to the rest of the world. But let's be honest about what's happening in far too many places in Scottish education right now. Our literacy and numeracy rates have declined. We're way behind in terms of where we need to be around science and technology. Our proportion of children that are now classed as having some kind of additional support need has increased to 43% of pupils at school. At the same time, the resources and classrooms have been pulled back. So at the same time as ASN numbers have gone up to 43%, the number of ASN teachers has fallen by almost”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  40. “Or the impact on you've mentioned around so that you can impact on minority communities and the rise of racism. I think one of the dangers we have is let's not pretend that there's a hierarchy of inequality that exists in our country. Let's be really honest. For many working class communities, I think about East End of Glasgow where we are just now for generations, young people in East End of Glasgow, young white boys, their life chances, outcomes and life expectancy is defined not by their talent, not by their knowledge, not by their ability, but by their postcode and their social background. That is scandalous and shouldn't be happening. So we've got to address those underlying harder issues if we are also going to take on that politics of fear and blame at the same time.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  41. “I actually think there's an undoubtedly a challenge, so it was 2007 when the SNP came to power, and so I spent some of my time, of course, when there was a Scottish Labour government as well as when there was an SNP government. But I think huge progress was made under Labour government, and I'm not going to pretend for a second that every single thing that the S&P has done in Scotland the last 20 years has been bad, because I just think any politician that tells you that just isn't telling the truth. There's a reason why they kept winning elections for 20 years. There's a reason why people kept voting for them, because they were doing some things that were good. But my argument is they've lost their way and they aren't what they were, and we need a change of government in Scotland, new ideas, new leadership, new energy, etc. But are there communities that feel as if structurally they've been left behind? I think the honest answer to that is yes. So it's interesting, we've talked about Rory's mentioned around the impact on Muslim communities around the rise in Islamophobia.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  42. “So I would agree that there is a driving of it from individuals, Donald Trump being one of them, but there is an underlying sentiment, fear, and failure that then is weaponized by politicians like Donald Trump in order to try and get the outcome they want. How do we address that underlying and find a different way of challenging and telling a story that confronts that kind of politics? I think is the big, big challenge for this generation.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  43. “So there's a couple things in that. One is Sadiq Khan is a proud Londoner. Yes, a Liverpool football fan, but still a proud Londoner and someone that wants to deliver for every community in London rather than just be the voice for one community in London. But there is an attempt to other him very, very often. I think he's done quite a good job of looking like and sounding like the voice of London. And for me, there'll be lots of attempts to other me to claim I'm not Scottish enough or I'm not on the side of Scotland. For me, I always think about just say what I believe, do what's right by Scotland and argue what's right by Scotland and not worry about what comes our way if I am successful in this election and that is definitely our intention and our goal. The one thing I'd push back on is I think it's too easy an analysis to say it's all Donald Trump's fault.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  44. “Genuine mistrust that people have and give them solutions and pull our country together in the process and tell a story, a positive story in the process, that I think is the single biggest challenge facing Scottish, UK and global politics right now.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  45. “Can ever work. So we need to smash the system. And then they have a layer on top of that of whether it's figures who are looking for attention or followers or to be voices online or whether it's even politicians or looking to get power who think, how do we weaponize those problems and find a group of people to point at and say we wouldn't have these problems if it wasn't for them over there. And that fear, blame us versus them culture, I think is probably the single biggest political divide in the UK and probably globally now for this generation of politicians. And I actually feel a bit of a personal responsibility to how we fight back against that because the answer to that is do you do an us versus them politics and think we create a different version of us versus them or do we create some kind of all of us to confront it? And that, I think, is what we have to do. How do we take on the genuine despair?”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  46. “So, I think it definitely feels like it's on the rise. And I often question whether that's because we're online and because there's these voices and amplification that didn't exist before, is it because it's more prevalent now or it's easier to say now or it's more open now? I never truly set upon one on that. Maybe it was always underlying, but those people didn't have a voice now they've got a platform, they've got a voice, or maybe it is on the rise now. But I think one thing is certainly clear is there are people now who are willing to use it and weaponize it for political purposes. So the concept of like fear and blame is there are lots of people that feel a deep frustration about what's happening in their lives legitimately. And there's lots of people that think government doesn't work for them. Things are broken. This is as good as it gets. Our country's going backwards. Nothing works.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  47. “There's too many people that want to use it as a way to weaponize for their own either warped ideology or a way to do politics, which is about division.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  48. “So I think obviously what it means for me as a politician, but actually, I think about what it means for my kids? Are they suggesting that my sons who are third generation Scots, born and brought up here have no, apart from their skin color and where their grandparents were born have no real affinity or identity with Pakistan? They are Scots, they are Brits, they are nothing else and they won't view themselves as anywhere else. Why has their identity been questioned? Why is their belonging been questioned? And this weaponization of faith and trying to create a homogenous block, whether it be automatically every Muslim must think the same or every Jewish person must think the same or every, you know, evangelical Christian must think the same. That's not how life is and that's not how humans are. And for me, faith has always been something that brings people together and unites people rather than finds difference with people.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  49. “It's a really good question because I think the way I think about lots of these things is less what it means for an individual faith. But I think being a dad of three boys, I think about a lot in the frame of fatherhood and a sense of identity and belonging for them and obviously for me in the Scottish context. And it's interesting you mention this individual that's said these comments to you. In the Hamilton Lark Ulstone House by-election, We had what is now sadly a mainstream political party. We had reforms spend tens of thousands of pounds on a Facebook advert claiming that I would prioritize Pakistan rather than prioritise Scotland. And even today, one of reforms candidates has said that they're open to the idea of repeating that ad in this election campaign. There's another candidate for reform that says that all Muslims in Scotland should be deported.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  50. “Will you be the candidate in Selkirk and Roxborough? And I had no idea where he was talking about. And I was like, listen, I am not going to be the candidate in Selcock and Roxborough, but if you want me to make up the numbers on a regional list somewhere, I'll do it. So I agree to stand on the Glasgow list. I got involved in the campaign really heavily to try and get high up on the list. And I ended up coming top with the Glasgow list and actually combined with what I was seeing in Paisley and getting the bug of going through that first election campaign, I think that kind of sparked that interest to be in frontline politics.”

    2026-04-19 · The Rest Is Politics: Leading · 185. Can Labour Win Back Scotland? (Anas Sarwar) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source