How Labour are going to deliver the change that Scotland desperately needs

This is a change election, but what does change mean? I’ll tell you and the Scottish Labour manifesto will tell you why this is the most important election in a generation. A Labour government will be transformative for Scotland, for everyone in the country, but particularly for young people who have grown up knowing nothing but long years of SNP incompetence and Tory chaos.

A Labour government at Westminster will deliver a pay rise for over 200,000 people in Scotland, including 40,000 young people. Our New Deal for Working People will end discriminatory age bands and introduce a genuine living wage. We will end insecure work with a ban on exploitative zero-hour contracts and day-one rights to sick leave, parental leave and protection from unfair dismissal.

To break the cycle of adult children having to live at home, Labour will introduce a permanent new comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme to support first-time buyers who struggle to save for a large deposit with lower mortgage costs.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar launched the party's general election manifesto with pledges to tackle low pay, improve the NHS, create new jobs and reduce energy bills (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

We are determined to leave the country and the planet in a better state than we find it. GB Energy, headquartered in Scotland to attract investment into Scotland’s energy sector, will support community ownership of new renewables and help create 69,000 new jobs in clean-energy industries.

Get our weekly opinion newsletter for expert analysis from The Scotsman’s team of columnists

Oil and gas will be part of our energy mix for decades to come but we will deliver a net-zero electricity system by 2030, helping to slash energy bills for good. We want the UK to be a clean-energy superpower and once again display climate leadership on the world stage by creating a Clean Power Alliance with countries at the cutting edge of climate action.

The Tories ripped us out of Europe but Labour will reset the relationship, working to tear down unnecessary trade barriers, agree new arrangements for touring artists and seek a new security pact to help keep the UK and Europe safe.

We won’t stop there. A Labour government in Westminster is the stepping stone to a Labour win at Holyrood in 2026. Our manifesto set out the changes Scottish Labour believe are needed in Scotland to reset years of SNP neglect.

Tory big guns' treatment of Sunak is starting to make me feel sorry for him

There is an urgent need to raise standards in Scottish education, improve numeracy and literacy, and embed digital skills across the curriculum so young people are prepared for life and work. We’ll start a “skills to school” programme so young people are informed about opportunities in a wider range of sectors and industries.

We need tradespeople as much as we need rocket scientists so we will introduce reforms to apprenticeships in Scotland so opportunities are more flexible, easier to find and matched to skill needs in the Scottish economy. We’ll reform the NHS, reducing waiting lists and delivering cutting-edge treatments, and we have to improve access to specialist mental health support in local GPs and schools. Labour will look after young people from cradle to career.

This election is an opportunity to deliver change for everyone in Scotland right now. But this election is also about the next generation of Scots and the future we build for them. We want to give them back hope and opportunity. A vote for Scottish Labour on July 4 is a vote to change Scotland for this generation and the next.

Jackie Baillie MSP is Scottish Labour’s deputy leader