Scottish Labour leadership candidates clash in lively STV debate

The two candidates vying to become the next Scottish Labour leader have clashed in a Scotland Tonight debate on STV.

Michael Marra and Joe Fagan went head to head in the debate hosted by STV’s political editor Colin Mackay – as they aim to replace Anas Sarwar who stepped down after being appointed to the House of Lords.

Fagan, who was elected to Holyrood for the first time in May, questioned Marra on how much responsibility he took for drafting the party’s manifesto ahead of this year’s election which saw Scottish Labour reduced to just 17 MSPs.

Fagan said: “Michael, you were in an Anas Sarwar’s shadow cabinet, you were one of the authors of the manifesto that led us to that defeat in May. In a previous life, you worked with Iain Gray… I think a lot of party members want to know if you didn’t have the answers then, why should we trust that you have the answers now.”

Marra responded: “The leader gets in the end, as you know Joe, the manifesto that they want. There’s a process that we go through in the party and then the leader puts their stamp on it. A manifesto under my leadership – I’d be absolutely clear will be entirely different.

“But I would say to you [Joe], if you think that changing a couple of policies in manifesto is what we might do to change direction, then you’re sorely mistaken.”

Marra who has been an MSP since 2021 went on to hit out at briefings against his campaign from inside the party.

He said: “Well if you’ve seen the negative briefing about me and the press in the last couple of weeks it doesn’t feel like being the continuity candidate.

“It’s when you are the person who is actually a threat to the establishment, when you want to shake things up and change the direction of the party that’s when people come shooting at you.”

It came after Fagan said: “I don’t think that a kind of continuity Starmerism is what we need right now in Scottish politics.”

Both candidates struggled when asked by Colin Mackay what specific further powers they would want devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

Marra said: “This is a case of saying, how do we take a concerted effort across all parties to meet the child poverty targets in the coming years.

“If it takes more powers to do that, then I’m happy to have that conversation with the UK Government, with the Scottish Government, and to make the case for it.”

Meanwhile Fagan said: “Very shortly within this parliamentary term, we’re going to have a debate about updating the fiscal framework. I think there’s an opportunity for us to look at the spending and borrowing powers of the Scottish Parliament.”

Voting for the next Scottish Labour leader opens on August 28, and the new leader will be announced on September 19.

You can watch the Scotland Tonight debate on the STV Player.