The year of getting Scotland back on track - Ian Murray

Ian Murray meets Grace Fu, Singapore minister of trade relations

Consider where we were last Hogmanay. Rishi Sunak was Prime Minister and Humza Yousaf was First Minister. Just one year on, both are gone and our country is completely changed.

The change could not be more profound. In July, voters gave us an enormous opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives. After 14 years of being let down by the Conservatives and the SNP, people knew things had to change.

I want to say thank you once again to everyone in my own constituency who placed their trust in me. It has been the honour of my life to serve Edinburgh South and whether you voted for me or not I will continue to work hard to represent everyone and deliver for our community in 2025.

And it is an immense privilege to now serve alongside 36 new Scottish Labour MPs. At last, Scotland’s interests are at the heart of government and Scottish Labour MPs are making the case from Government, rather than languishing in opposition.

This is already paying dividends. The UK Government Budget at the end of October delivered the largest budget settlement for the Scottish Government in the history of devolution.

As Scottish Secretary, I’ve been making the case for Scotland around the Cabinet table. And from the day I was appointed, I have been promoting Scottish excellence on the world stage, launching Brand Scotland in November in Southeast Asia.

But getting the country back on track will take time. Everyone knows the country was broken. The inheritance from the Conservatives has been enormously challenging. With crumbling public services and reduced living standards, we knew things were bad. But on entering office, the Chancellor discovered an enormous £22 billion in-year black hole.

The Conservatives had planned billions of pounds of overspending. The previous government and some commentators can try to wish this away but we had to deal with it. In government we don’t have the luxury of simply ignoring it.

We have already had to take difficult decisions to fix the foundations of our economy. There are no quick or easy solutions to fix the mess - a decade and a half in the making.

And while Westminster has been transformed, the SNP are still clinging to power in Holyrood. The Scottish Budget in December was a clear sign that they are completely out of ideas.

Despite the huge extra money provided to the Scottish Government in the UK Budget (which SNP MPs voted against), the SNP failed to invest in the economy and public services, and their headline announcement of lifting the two-child cap was only a policy paper without a penny attached.

But as we look ahead to 2025, I’m hopeful and optimistic. The Labour Government has already delivered on a huge range of promises, including raising the minimum wage, protecting the pensions Triple Lock, ruling out a return to austerity, improving protections for renters and employees and establishing GB Energy in Scotland.

With the poisonous inheritance we received from the Conservatives, change will take time. But we’re just getting started and are as impatient as the public to deliver it. 2025 will be the year of delivery and change.

Ian Murray MP for Edinburgh South, Secretary of State for Scotland