The leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Anas Sarwar, has been challenged on whether he agrees with his frontbench MSP that the Scottish Parliament’s only purpose is to mitigate Tory austerity.

In a bizarre intervention yesterday, Labour MSP Paul O'Kane asked "What is the point in this Parliament, Presiding Officer, if not to mitigate the policies of this Conservative government?".

This suggests that Labour believe that the only role of the Scottish Parliament is to spend time and money protecting the people of Scotland from the cruel policies made by the Tory UK Government.

Commenting, MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, Natalie Don, said:

“The comment made by Mr O’Kane shows a distinct lack of respect for devolution, and for the people he is meant to represent in the West of Scotland region.

“People elect MSPs to represent them in their national parliament, such as participating in debates, passing bills, and creating legislation – not to simply be a stopgap for Westminster governments.

“It is a sad state of affairs that Labour have drifted so far from their founding values under Starmer, that their frontbench in Holyrood have now become apologists for Tory austerity. Anas Sarwar must clarify whether his MSP’s acceptance of Tory austerity status quo is his party’s official position.”