ONLY an election win for Scottish Labour can guarantee a national recovery and build a stronger, fairer post-pandemic Scotland, Anas Sarwar said today.

The Scottish Labour leader set out the party’s top 50 pledges for the next term of Parliament ahead of Thursday’s Holyrood election.

Mr Sarwar unveiled his five-point recovery plan — with a focus on jobs, the NHS, education, climate change and communities — in order to help rebuild Scotland. 

In its manifesto, Labour has also pledged that everyone on furlough will access training to develop skills, as well as a jobs guarantee for every young Scot. Mr Sarwar also revealed plans to invest in a national training fund and a business restart fund.

There was also a focus on care, with Labour announcing plans to establish new rapid diagnostic and elective care centres to deal with the backlog of NHS cases and identify undiagnosed cancer patients. 

Mr Sarwar said that only Labour had the ambition necessary to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic, “with positive solutions that will rebuild our country and create a stronger fairer Scotland, not return to old divisive arguments.

“Only by using both your votes for Labour can we deliver a parliament that is focused on jobs, the NHS, the future of our children, climate change and our national recovery.”

Meanwhile, the Scottish Greens have promised to strengthen protections for wildlife, claiming that Scotland was facing a “nature emergency.”

The party said that current protections had failed or were poorly enforced which, over the last year, has seen beavers declared a protected species and birds of prey continue to disappear.

Its manifesto pledges to review the priorities of Nature Scot and other agencies.

This would include strengthening licensing, ending bloodsports, banning traps like snares and delivering a fully resourced wildlife crime investigations unit in Police Scotland.

Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater said the party would reform wildlife law for protected species, prioritise tackling wildlife crime, and invest in “restoring the natural environment and creating rural green jobs across the country.

“Scottish Greens are proud of the protections we have won for beavers and mountain hares, but these need to be enforced, and those who commit wildlife crimes need to be brought to justice.

“That requires a government that can stand up to vested interests and protect Scotland’s wildlife. Their future depends on it, so vote Green on Thursday.”