Anas Sarwar: 'Senior SNP figures say John Swinney has two weeks to save his job'

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has claimed that John Swinney has just “two weeks to come up with a new idea and save his job”.

Swinney got into a back and forth argument with Sarwar at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday over job losses at bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis, which has two Scottish sites in Falkirk and Larbert.

The Labour leader said he was “deeply concerned” by the announcement, which has put up to 400 Scottish jobs at risk, but he said the news was “not inevitable”.

“Under the SNP, the Scottish Government is procuring more buses from China than they are from Scotland,” Sarwar said.

The First Minister argued that the Scottish Government had provided the company with £58m through the zero emissions bus challenge fund and its predecessor. He added that Alexander Dennis had also benefited from £30.3m in research and development support from Scottish Enterprise.

The debate ended with Sarwar accusing Swinney’s own MSPs of “openly rebelling against him”.

“Let them groan in public now, but senior [SNP] figures are saying [John Swinney] has two weeks to come up with a new idea to save his job,” Sarwar said.

“But if he hasn’t come up with a good idea to improve Scotland in 18 years, what chance does he have now?”

Sarwar’s comments on the Chamber floor come after The Herald reported plots were emerging to challenge Swinney’s leadership following the Hamilton by-election loss to Labour.

It was reported that in the wake of the Labour victory, some 25 members of the SNP met to discuss the possibility of a leadership challenge unless Swinney brings forward a new strategy on independence.

However, on Wednesday, finance secretary Shona Robison said: “I have not heard that at all, so I don’t know where that is coming from.”

Asked if the First Minister’s position was safe, she told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “Yes, absolutely.”

She added that “the First Minister has absolutely stabilised the position within the party and government”.

Likewise, the newly appointed Scottish housing secretary Mairi McAllan said she had “absolute confidence” in Swinney’s leadership as she went in to Bute House to accept her new position on Wednesday.

Swinney did not respond to Sarwar’s comments about his leadership at FMQs.

Pivoting the debate back to job losses at Alexander Dennis, the First Minister said his Government will do “everything we can” to support jobs at the bus manufacturers.

He quoted a joint letter from the UK and Scottish governments, which pledged to “work closely with Alexander Dennis at this challenging time”.

He added: “That’s us indicating that we’re keen to do everything we can to find a way through the Subsidy Control Act provisions, so the Government can continue to operate within the law, which we must do, but also, we can support manufacturing in Scotland, which is my priority.”