All aboard to end 14 years of Tory chaos - Ian Murray

It is our plan to return Labour to the service of working people and turn the page on 14 years of Tory chaos and division. And next week we will publish our Scottish manifesto, which will demonstrate how a Labour government will put Scotland at its heart.

We have already announced the first six steps we want to take if given the opportunity to serve: delivering economic stability, cutting NHS waiting times, setting up GB Energy here in Scotland to bring bills down, making work pay with a wage rise for 200,000 Scots and creating jobs and opportunities for young people.

As Anas Sarwar has said, the election on July 4 is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.

That has also been echoed by Robin Harper, the UK’s first Green parliamentarian, who I am delighted has defected to Scottish Labour and is helping my campaign in Edinburgh South.

As Robin said, we need to “see the back of this Conservative government, who have crashed our economy, degraded our political life and failed to tackle climate change”.

But our Scottish manifesto will also look ahead to the next Holyrood election, given that so many things we need to fix in this country after 17 years of SNP mismanagement are devolved.

It might seem strange to be talking about another election when one campaign is underway, but the change our country needs requires two steps: first, remove the Tories from office in Westminster, then remove the SNP from power in Holyrood.

Our NHS is a good example of why this matters. On general election day, three weeks from now, we can take the first step to save our NHS.

Fittingly, the day after the election is the National Health Service’s birthday – 76 years since Labour created it.

Under Keir Starmer, a UK Labour government will start the process of delivering greater investment in the NHS, and we will pay for this by closing the non-dom tax loopholes and cracking down on tax avoidance.

This will deliver millions every year in health-related funding for Scotland, which could deliver 160,000 more appointments every year for patients in Scotland by operating additional clinics and theatre procedures in the evenings and weekends.

That would be transformational in Edinburgh and communities like Liberton and Gilmerton, where waiting lists are catastrophic because of the lack of investment by the SNP in local healthcare services.

And it is only possible by voting for a Labour government at Westminster.

But Labour is also preparing for the change our NHS needs at the devolved level as well.

An end to the 8am rush for GP appointments by bringing back advance bookings, which I know would be very welcome in Edinburgh.

Incentives for newly-qualified dentists to work in areas where people struggle to access NHS dental services – something which is another major challenge in Edinburgh – a reduction in the number of health boards to slash bureaucracy, and a life sciences plan to inject growth in the medical research which takes place at world-leading universities like the one here in the capital.

As has always been the case throughout its history, only Labour will protect the NHS.

That work can start just three weeks from now.