Anas Sarwar: Johnson is a cheat and a charlatan. We all knew it and, whatever they will try to say now, so did his party

The whole of the UK including Scotland will be breathing a sigh of relief that Boris Johnson is going.

He will go down in history as the worst prime minister we have ever had. He forced thousands more into poverty, debased our political discourse and weakened every part of the United Kingdom.

More than that – he is a cheat, a charlatan and a man devoid of any principles. Minister after minister may have distanced themselves from him in the last week, but make no mistake – they are complicit. They knew the man they were inflicting on the nation, but they were willing to turn a blind eye – no matter the consequences for our country.

They can’t now pretend that it is day zero.

This Tory party is rotten to the core and come the next General Election we must get rid of the lot of them.

At this time of national crisis, the stakes couldn’t be higher – but nor has there been a greater opportunity for reform and renewal. We remain in the grip of a cost of living crisis. Energy bills are soaring and the daily shop is getting more expensive.

But while the focus should be on standing up for those most in need, the Tories and the SNP are focused only on dividing our country.

This week we have seen the impact that a divisive government at Westminster can have. But we also have a divisive government at Holyrood.

Both the SNP and Tory parties feed off division and try to entrench people into two tribes.

Nicola Sturgeon promised to focus on our recovery – but that recovery hasn’t even started yet.

Since the election, 5,000 more Scots have lost their lives to Covid-19. More than 700,000 Scots are on an NHS waiting list. Over 10,000 children and young people are waiting for a mental health appointment. There are almost 20,000 fewer businesses in Scotland today than when the pandemic began.

But rather than focus on the recovery, the first minister is more concerned with pitting Scot against Scot as she campaigns ahead of a General Election.

You cannot play politics while people’s lives and livelihoods are in the balance.

There is a majority for change in our country. The SNP and Tories believe we can only deliver change by dividing people – Labour believes we can deliver change by uniting people.

That’s why our focus is on delivering on building a stronger Scotland in a changing and modernising UK. We need urgent action on the cost of living crisis and getting people off NHS waiting lists.

We are relentlessly focused on the future.

Replacing one man at the top is not enough. We need a General Election and any new prime minister should seek a mandate from the people. That’s why I am putting the Scottish Labour Party on a General Election footing.

We must build a campaign that unites our country to boot out this Tory government – only Labour can do that.