A VOTE for Scottish Labour is a vote to “rescue” the NHS from the SNP and Tories, according to Anas Sarwar.

The Scottish Labour leader made the remarks as part of a keynote speech in Edinburgh as his party seeks to overtake the SNP’s tally of seats at July’s general election and he sets his sights on the next Holyrood poll.

Mr Sarwar claimed his party’s plans to close non-dom tax loopholes for the super-wealthy could generate enough funding to create as many as 160,000 additional medical appointments.

He told activists: “Nearly one in six Scots — 840,000 of our fellow citizens — are sitting on waiting lists.

“This is a national emergency. A staggering 87,000 have waited over a year, more than 7,000 Scots have waited over two years for in-patient treatment, and the 62-day treatment standard for cancer has not been met since 2012 — 12 years.

“More than 24,000 Scots are on a waiting list for specialist mental health support, and more people wait 12 hours in A&E today than waited four hours when the SNP first came to power.

“This list goes on and on. The damage inflicted on our NHS by the SNP is an absolute scandal.”