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00:00It is my privilege and honour to introduce Anna Starler.
00:10Friends, in a hundred days' time, Scotland faces a choice.
00:15The most significant choice it's had to make in 20 years.
00:20And in a hundred days' time, we can save our most precious and treasured National Health Service.
00:26A hundred days to take our country in a different direction.
00:30And a hundred days to give hope back to the people of this great country.
00:35We have a plan to fix our NHS and make it fit for the future.
00:40But above all else, we want to take our NHS out of the hands of incompetent ministers and bureaucrats and managers
00:49and put it back in the hands of the people it truly belongs to.
00:53The patients, the doctors and the nurses.
00:57And that's the promise and commitment I make to you today.
01:01Now, I'll say a bit more about what we will do specifically in a moment.
01:04But let me just say thank you to the speakers that preceded me.
01:08First of all, to Mike McCurdy.
01:11It's true to say that Mike was not, and perhaps may still argue, is not a politician.
01:17But he's someone that knows deeply about our NHS and how to fix it.
01:22And I think it demonstrates how serious we are about winning this election and about fixing our NHS that someone like Mike McCurdy, who has 40 years of dedicated service to the NHS, is willing to be our candidate and willing to help us get our NHS fit for the future.
01:40But it also demonstrates, I think, a challenge for people across our country.
01:46Do we sit this one out and hope someone else will come along and hopefully things will just get better?
01:52Or are we willing to put our head above the parapet and fight for the change that our country so desperately needs?
01:58And all of us, I think, want to say a huge thank you to Mike, that he's one that's willing to put his head above the parapet and help us take our NHS into the future.
02:06Welcome, Mike.
02:11I also want to thank both Francesca and Jordan, both who have personal experience like we all do.
02:18We all have personal experience of the NHS, personal experiences of when the NHS has been there for us and been there to care, been there to treasure.
02:27And actually had really positive interventions in our life.
02:31But all of us, too, will also know individual stories, but it hasn't quite worked out the way it should do.
02:37Sadly, in the case for Jordan with his mum, for countless others in their own family's care, whether that be in terms of speed of delivery or the need to go private,
02:49or in the ultimate case of the families involved in the Queen Elizabeth hospital scandal,
02:55when it actually felt like the NHS, the managers, the bureaucrats and the ministers conspired against them rather than was there on their side.
03:03So for all the families and for all the patients and for all the people who work in our NHS or rely on our NHS every single day,
03:12this election and this choice is about you.
03:17It's not about me.
03:18It's not about the Scottish Labour Party.
03:20It's about what happens to the future of that most precious and treasured institution, the National Health Service.
03:27And it is for you, the patients, for you, the doctors, for you, the nurses, that we are determined to win this election and get our NHS back to where it belongs.
03:38And no better advocate for our NHS over the last period has been Jackie Bailey, my fantastic deputy leader, the co-chair of the election campaign,
03:48and the person that's going to help mastermind that election victory in 100 days' time.
03:53And someone too, actually, that has been a dedicated champion for NHS voices in our parliament.
03:59So big cheer for Jackie Bailey, please.
04:01And friends, people say, what is that alternative that Labour will deliver?
04:09And let me say a bit of that in a moment.
04:12But I also want to talk about the risk if we don't change course.
04:16The risk if we just view this election as one of non-consequence, one of protest, not one ultimately of choice.
04:24This election won't decide what happens somewhere else.
04:29It will decide what happens here in Scotland.
04:31It will decide what happens to our schools, our hospitals, our GP services, our social care system, our families, our communities, our towns, our cities, our villages and our islands.
04:43This election is about our NHS.
04:46And for any other political party or any other political leader, including the sitting First Minister John Swinney and the SNP,
04:54they want to make this election about everything but Scotland, but I'm determined to make it about Scotland.
05:00And who can blame them for wanting to talk about anything else apart from their record?
05:05On their watch, more than 830,000 Scots waiting either for treatment or for diagnosis,
05:11including almost 10,000 waiting over two years, over two years on an NHS waiting list.
05:20That's 53 times higher than the number in England, despite them having 10 times the size of population we do.
05:29It means for all those thousands of people who wait far too long at A&E,
05:33and when the Royal College of Emergency Medicine tell us that that leads to unnecessary deaths in the future.
05:39To all those people that are stuck in hospital, desperate to get out, cleared to leave, but can't,
05:46because they can't access that care package either at home or indeed in a care home.
05:51For all those who've had to remortgage their homes, borrow from friends and family,
05:55or have had to travel elsewhere to get the private diagnosis or the private treatment
05:59when they should be getting that here at home.
06:03Those waiting in pain, in anxiety, and putting their lives on hold,
06:08and all the personal consequence that has on their health, but also on their economic opportunity,
06:13and indeed on their friends and family.
06:16That's the record of shame for the SNP.
06:19That's the record of failure, and that's one that we want to stop and take our NHS into the future.
06:26Now, people often say that all hope has gone.
06:29The NHS can never be fixed.
06:31It's always going to be broken.
06:32It can't go back to those founding principles.
06:34I reject that out of hand.
06:37Our NHS can work.
06:39Our NHS can be fit for the future.
06:42Our NHS can deliver for everyone the way it should.
06:45But what we need is a government that meets the ambition of the people
06:49and works as hard as our NHS staff do if we are to make it a reality.
06:55So what will Scottish Labour do to fix it?
06:57First, we will declare that national waiting times emergency to make sure patients can receive
07:02the care they need regardless of where it is available across the country.
07:07We will also make sure we take capacity wherever it exists so we can clear those backlogs
07:12and so people don't have to use their own money to get the treatment they need.
07:17We will reform primary care to end the ATM rush for a GP appointment,
07:21and we will bring back the family doctor.
07:25We will end corridor care and stop all the bed blocking by making sure we invest in social care
07:30and the pathways that people need to get those care packages at home
07:34or indeed to have that place in a care home.
07:38We will also bring parity in terms of mental health and physical health
07:42by launching the Mental Health Emergency Response Service,
07:45making sure there are trained paramedics, nurses and mental health support
07:49responding directly to 999 calls, not untrained police officers.
07:55Now that does two things.
07:56One, of course, it gives better dignity and care to the patient,
08:00but it also releases those police officers so they're not stuck in AD departments,
08:04they're not stuck in courtrooms, they're not stuck responding to 999 calls.
08:08Instead, they're on the front line supporting their communities and fighting crime.
08:12And ultimately, we will cut the bureaucracy so we've got fewer chief executives,
08:18fewer finance directors, fewer managers and more nurses and more doctors on the front line.
08:24Fewer bureaucrats who think their job is to stand up and defend the government
08:28and conspire against the patient,
08:31and more money to the doctors and the nurses that treat the patients
08:34and better outcomes for people across the country.
08:38Now let me just say a couple of things in closing before we open up to questions.
08:42First of all, on the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
08:46I've said this already over the course of the last week,
08:49and I want to repeat it again today.
08:51I believe what has happened at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital
08:55is criminal incompetence.
08:58It's negligence, it's criminal incompetence,
09:01and those responsible must be held to account.
09:04And what the public inquiry has done
09:06is looked in detail at the decision-making and the decision-making gaps
09:11in the managers and the staff on the site.
09:15What it hasn't done is investigated and questioned
09:18those responsible for the political decision-making.
09:21So I believe that Lord Brody should reopen the inquiry,
09:25that he should hear directly from the First Minister at the time,
09:28Nicola Sturgeon,
09:29from the Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary at the time,
09:33John Swinney,
09:34and from the Health Secretary at the time,
09:36Shona Robison.
09:36So we can have full transparency
09:38about who knew what and when,
09:41and why that hospital was allowed to open
09:43too early,
09:45and the negative consequences,
09:46devastating consequences,
09:48that followed,
09:49with patients getting infections
09:50they shouldn't have,
09:51and lives being lost
09:52when they shouldn't have too.
09:55So I want all that to come
09:57and see the light of day.
09:59And let me also make this commitment.
10:02For seven years now,
10:04we've been told repeatedly by SNP ministers
10:06and officials
10:07that there's nothing to see here.
10:09And they've always presumed
10:10that somehow we'll just go away,
10:12or the patients will go away,
10:13or the families will go away,
10:14or somehow I will go away.
10:16Let me make this abundantly clear
10:19to every single minister in government,
10:22every single official,
10:24we are not going away.
10:27We will get the answers,
10:29we will get truth,
10:30and we will get justice.
10:32And you may try and evade that
10:34for the next 100 days.
10:37But in 100 days,
10:38we will elect a new government
10:39in this country.
10:40In 100 days,
10:41we will get our NHS back on track.
10:44In 100 days,
10:45we will save our NHS.
10:47But in 100 days,
10:48we will then also shine a light
10:50on the most ultimate cover-up
10:52in this country's political history,
10:55and you will be made
10:56to pay the price.
10:58So 100 days
10:59to take a different choice.
11:01100 days to choose
11:02a different path.
11:04100 days
11:05to save our NHS.
11:07And 100 days
11:08to elect a first minister
11:09that shares your ambition,
11:11and to elect
11:12a Scottish Labour government
11:13that works as hard
11:15as you do.
11:16So let's go win
11:17that future together.
11:24Thank you very much, folks.
11:25We're going to now take
11:26some questions
11:27from the press.
11:28I'll start with Ciarán Andrews.
11:30Thanks very much.
11:31And as you mentioned there
11:33about there will be
11:34fewer bureaucrats
11:35that see it as a job
11:37to stand up
11:38for the Scottish government.
11:40You also want
11:41the number of territorial
11:43health boards
11:43down to three.
11:44Can we assume
11:45that the logic
11:45from that then
11:46is you'll follow
11:47when it's treating
11:48what he's done in England
11:49and get rid of NHS Scotland
11:51to make health board bosses
11:52directly accountable ministers?
11:55So the structure
11:55is already slightly different
11:57to that of NHS England.
11:58So NHS England
11:59wasn't set up
12:00the same way
12:01as NHS Scotland was.
12:04But to the principle
12:05of the point,
12:06Ciarán,
12:07yes,
12:07I think it's about time
12:10we had ministers
12:11that took responsibility
12:12and ministers
12:13that were held
12:14to account.
12:15If something happens
12:16when I'm a first minister
12:17and under my government
12:18I will hold my ministers
12:20and my officials
12:21to account
12:22and not always look
12:23for someone else
12:24to blame.
12:25And that's sadly
12:26what happens too often
12:27in our national health service.
12:29And we will reduce
12:29the bureaucracy
12:30because layer after layer
12:32of management,
12:33layer after layer
12:34of bureaucracy
12:34fails the staff,
12:37fails the patients
12:37and just gives
12:38covering excuses
12:39to a government
12:40that wants to
12:41just always blame
12:42somebody else,
12:43never take responsibility.
12:44And let me just say
12:45one thing else
12:45about the culture.
12:47Let's not think
12:48that this only happens
12:49in Greater Glasgow
12:49and Clyde.
12:50I was in Dundee
12:51yesterday
12:52speaking to the victims
12:53of LGML,
12:55the neurosurgeon
12:57and all the devastating
12:58consequences
12:59for many families
13:00in the North East
13:01and in NHS Tayside
13:02in particular.
13:04Day two feel frustrated.
13:05The patients
13:06and the staff
13:07that raise concerns
13:08where logbooks
13:09have been destroyed,
13:11vital logbooks
13:12that are required
13:13for the public inquiry
13:14that's happening
13:14in NHS Tayside.
13:16There is a rotten culture
13:18at the heart
13:19of government
13:20and there's a rotten culture
13:21at the heart
13:22of the bureaucracy
13:23that exists
13:23in this country
13:24where the culture
13:26is one of secrecy,
13:27of cover-up,
13:28defend yourself,
13:29defend your own reputation,
13:31defend the institution
13:32and don't defend
13:33the victim
13:34or the patient.
13:35That's going to end
13:36with a Scottish Labour government.
13:38That will end
13:38if I become First Minister.
13:40We will have institutions
13:41that are there
13:42to protect the victim
13:43and the patient,
13:44not themselves,
13:45institutions
13:45or individual reputations.
13:48Paul?
13:49I'm asking
13:50what you say
13:51that if you're First Minister
13:53then the NHS
13:54is going to be
13:55your top priority
13:55in terms of focus
13:57and also resources
13:58but I know
13:59there will be
14:00some councillors
14:00who will wonder
14:01what does that mean
14:02for local government
14:03because one of the stories
14:04of the last 17 years
14:06is that the NHS
14:07has been prioritised
14:08in terms of cash
14:09not councils.
14:11So just two questions.
14:13How will you reform
14:14council tax
14:15if you're First Minister
14:17and can you rule out
14:19a council tax freeze
14:20going into this election?
14:21So two things.
14:22First of all
14:23if we don't do
14:24what's right by councils
14:25we can't fix the NHS
14:27because so much
14:29of the problem
14:29that exists
14:30in the National Health Service
14:31is the entrance door
14:33and a lack of capacity
14:35in primary care
14:36and the exit door
14:37because of a lack
14:38of capacity
14:39in social care
14:40and obviously
14:40our councils
14:41are the ones
14:41that are responsible
14:42for delivering
14:43social care
14:43across the country.
14:44So fair funding
14:45for local government
14:46is part of the plan
14:48to fix the NHS
14:49to make sure
14:49it is a wraparound service
14:51where people don't
14:52so where people do
14:53get the care they need
14:54so they don't have
14:55to go into hospital
14:55and they do get
14:56the care they need
14:57so they can get out
14:58of hospital
14:58when they're cleared
14:59to do so.
15:00So we will deliver
15:00fair funding
15:01for local government
15:02we will have a funding
15:03model that exists
15:04that recognises
15:05that parity
15:05between social care
15:07and the National Health Service
15:08and we will also recognise
15:09parity
15:10that when the Scottish
15:11government budget
15:11goes up
15:12then local government
15:13budget should go up too
15:14and we will write that
15:15into law
15:16through a local
15:17democracy act.
15:19On the point you make
15:20about council tax
15:21look the council tax
15:22system is fundamentally
15:23broken
15:24we have got to deliver
15:25that fair funding
15:26the challenge we have
15:28right now is you had
15:29an SNP government
15:30that imposed a freeze
15:31on council tax
15:33whilst also cutting
15:34council budgets
15:35and that is why
15:36councils felt even
15:37more pressure
15:38and now feel pressure
15:39in terms of council tax
15:40rises.
15:41So I want to keep
15:42council tax down
15:43I want to keep
15:44council tax low
15:45but I will not impose
15:46council tax freezes
15:48that then also result
15:49in a cut in those
15:50local government budgets
15:51we have to redraw
15:52the system completely
15:53so it has that fair
15:54funding whilst also
15:55keeping people's bills
15:56down because that's
15:57fundamentally.
15:58important.
15:59Alistair Grant.
16:00Hi there.
16:01You say that if Labour
16:03wins 100 days
16:04it will shine a light
16:05what happens at the
16:06Queen Elizabeth University
16:07Hospital and those
16:08responsible will be made
16:09to pay the price.
16:10Can you just outline
16:11exactly what you mean
16:12by that?
16:13I know you have already
16:13talked about reopening
16:14the requirements
16:15but how will you ensure
16:16that they are made
16:16to pay the price?
16:17Just on a separate issue
16:18do you think it was
16:20right to block Andy
16:21Burnham from standing
16:22you were seeing today
16:23the letter signed
16:24by 50 Labour MPs
16:26raising concerns about that?
16:27Well let me first take
16:28the first point
16:28what I mean by
16:29pay the price
16:30they're not going to
16:31get to hide anymore
16:32they will be made
16:33to answer for
16:35their mistakes
16:36I would say
16:38crimes
16:39in the cold light
16:41of day
16:41they'll be made to
16:43answer in the
16:44parliament
16:44they'll be made to
16:45answer in any
16:46relevant investigations
16:47and in my view
16:48there should be
16:49criminal investigations
16:50into the actions
16:51and the decisions
16:53of those involved
16:54because what's either
16:55happened here
16:56is the almighty
16:57negligence
16:58where the right
16:59questions weren't
17:00asked
17:00people weren't
17:01doing their job
17:02and therefore that
17:03hospital opened
17:03or
17:04they knew what was
17:06happening
17:06and they chose to
17:07ignore it anyway
17:08because they thought
17:09the politics and the
17:10presentation was more
17:11important than patient
17:12safety
17:12so they are going to
17:13be made to answer
17:15for those crimes
17:16and I mean that
17:17for whichever
17:18chief executive
17:19whichever chair
17:20whichever manager
17:21whichever minister
17:21because families
17:23deserve justice
17:23and the truth
17:24and let me also
17:25just emphasise this
17:26point Alistair
17:27is the government
17:28is now asking us
17:29to believe
17:30the same people
17:31that told the same
17:32story for the last
17:33ten years
17:34and to ignore
17:35the same three
17:37doctors that raised
17:38the same warnings
17:39for the last ten
17:40years too
17:40those three doctors
17:41have proven to be
17:42right in every
17:44single thing they
17:44said and those
17:46managers and
17:47ministers have been
17:47proven to be wrong
17:49in everything they
17:50said so I know
17:51whose side I'm on
17:52those three doctors
17:53are whose side I'm on
17:55if they're not
17:56satisfied I'm not
17:57satisfied and no one
17:58in the public should
17:59be satisfied and
18:00therefore they had to
18:01be at the heart of
18:02whatever comes next
18:03on the question you
18:04asked about Andy
18:06Burnham of course
18:06that was a decision
18:07taken by the NEC
18:09Andy Burnham is a
18:10friend of mine
18:11a colleague of mine
18:12someone that's doing
18:13a fantastic job as
18:14Greater Manchester
18:15Mayor actually a
18:16lesson I think that
18:16the regions of
18:18Scotland can learn
18:18from about how you
18:19do proper regional
18:20economic development
18:21but now that decision
18:23has been made the
18:24Labour Party has to
18:25get behind whoever
18:26the candidate is going
18:27to be in that
18:28by-election and make
18:29sure they defeat the
18:29poison of reform
18:31Do you think it was
18:31right to make that
18:32decision though?
18:33It's a decision for
18:34them it's a decision
18:35for the managers in
18:36England to decide what
18:38the selection process
18:39is for Scotland of
18:40course we decide our
18:41selection process is in
18:42Scotland and it's now
18:43for the good people of
18:44Manchester to decide
18:45who they want their
18:46new MP to be and I'm
18:47sure they'll have a
18:48fantastic Labour
18:49candidate to vote for
18:50Tom Gordon
18:52I'm only interested in
19:02one person's leadership
19:03ambitions and that's
19:04mine
19:04and my focus my ambition
19:12is to make sure I'm
19:12First Minister 100 days
19:13time so we save our
19:14NHS and do what's
19:15right by my country
19:16Scotland
19:17I think Andy Burnham should
19:34continue what he's doing
19:36which is delivering for
19:37the good people of
19:37Greater Manchester with
19:39Labour values every day
19:40he is a star player on the
19:41pitch and he should keep
19:43doing what he's doing
19:44but as I said I'm
19:45focused on changing
19:47one person in a big
19:48job and that's the
19:49person in Butte House
19:49and that's the focus
19:50in the next 100 days
19:51Rachel
19:52Hi I'm over here
19:54Oh sorry Rachel
19:55didn't see you there
19:56Just following on from
19:57that are you worried
19:58that the focus is going
19:59to be on the fate of
20:00the UK government
20:00rather than on the
20:01plans for Scotland
20:02So again I think this
20:04is the key question
20:05for the next 100 days
20:06is do we focus on
20:09what's happening in a
20:10government somewhere
20:11else in positions
20:13somewhere else or do we
20:14focus about what
20:15happens here
20:15because in 100 days
20:17time what people in
20:18Scotland are choosing
20:19is who they want
20:20Scotland's first
20:21minister to be
20:22who they want
20:23Scotland's government
20:23to be and what focus
20:25they want on the issues
20:26relevant to Scotland
20:27and what I don't
20:29understand from a
20:30government that claims
20:31it's on the side of
20:32Scotland why don't they
20:34want to make this
20:34election about Scotland's
20:35NHS why don't they
20:37want to make this
20:37election about Scotland's
20:38schools why don't they
20:39want to make this
20:40election about Scotland's
20:41towns cities villages
20:42and islands why don't
20:44they want to make this
20:45about Scotland's
20:45transport system why
20:47don't they want to
20:47make this about Scotland's
20:48families and the
20:49support they get either
20:50through childcare or
20:51access to education or
20:53the skills system why
20:54don't they care about
20:55Scots so I'm going to
20:57make this election about
20:57my country my people
20:59Scotland and I mean
21:01everybody in Scotland
21:02because I've seen
21:03reference from another
21:04party this week about
21:05who my people and my
21:07community are my
21:08people are the great
21:09people of Scotland my
21:10community is every
21:11community in Scotland
21:13and that's the people
21:14I'm determined to lead
21:14in a hundred days time
21:15thank you all so much
21:17thank you
21:17I'm going to
21:24thank you all so much
21:26I'm going to
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