Interview with Anas Sarwar MSP
Anas Sarwar MSP is the leader of the Scottish Labour Party. He was elected in 2021 with the hopes that he could steer the party into a better trajectory than his predecessors.
Anas Sarwar at BBC election debate May 2021
Sarwar is one of the few Asian politicians within the Scottish Government, he has faced many difficulties as a result of this.
Sarwar said: “Undoubtedly there are challenges that you face. Every politician gets a certain level of challenge, whether that be scrutiny or whether that be abuse.”
He believes that all members of government have some form of difficulty or struggle to deal with, some more than others. He continues: “I think women in politics get that even more. And I think ethnic minorities in politics also get it. I think it's hard to judge whether they get it worse but I imagine ethnic minority women gets even worse.”
Sarwar continues by stating how the higher up an individual is in government, the more struggles they will have to face and the best thing for a politician to do is to just stay “under the radar.”
However, Sarwar states: “but I'm not that kind of person, if I've got a view, I'd like to express it and I believe in change, in fighting for change. I'm not going to be shy and hide from that.”
He said: “are there challenges? Of course, there is. Is there abuse that comes with it? Yes. Is there racism that comes with it? Yes. Is there Islamophobia that comes with it? Yes. Are there additional pressures on your family? Yes. Is there added scrutiny because of your background? Yes. And do you have to work harder and be better because you're from an ethnic minority background? Yes, I generally believe you do.”
The Scottish Labour Party believes and supports staying in the union rather than becoming an independent country.
Sarwar says: “I believe in pulling in and sharing resources, I believe in redistribution and that is redistribution of power; redistribution of wealth; and redistribution of opportunity.
“In saying that, the UK is not perfect, the UK has many flaws, the UK needs to change. I think the current UK government is a disastrous government.
“I think they are letting down all parts of the UK including Scotland and, in many ways, masks the failures of the Scottish Government as well.
“I think the better days of the UK do lie ahead and therefore I think our escape route from this rotten government is to get rid of the Tory government, elect a Labour Government.
“We have seen the damage that Brexit has caused, I believe that independence will be a multiplier of that rather than mitigate them.”
Sarwar believes that the conservative government must be voted out. He says: “A good example is the mini budget when Kwarteng was the chancellor and Liz Truss was the prime minister.
“That mini budget cost this country around $65 billion and we are all paying for the reparatory work for that £65 billion.
“Imagine if we had that £65 billion instead to spend on giving people relief on their energy bills or giving businesses relief on their energy bills or investing in different parts of our economy.”
He also states that the current UK government has no “credible growth plan for the economy.” Sarwar says: “There's no credible growth plan about how we grow the economy, increase the tax intake and demonstrate where the future jobs are going to come from.”
Sarwar concludes by stating: “Tories have taken all morality and respect for democratic institutions. It has disappeared.
“I think they run of ideas, run out of road and they run out of steam.
“I think that change in that positive outlook for the future is desperately needed by this country.”