WHEN P&O Ferries sacked nearly 800 seafarers without warning and replaced them with agency labour, working people saw corporate greed at its most shameless.

When the company’s chief executive was summoned before a Holyrood committee, I made no apology for challenging him directly about that disgraceful decision.

Parliament should never be a comfortable place for those who profit from exploiting workers. It should be a place where working people know someone is prepared to fight their corner.

That has always been my approach to politics. Whether standing in solidarity with Scottish Water workers in their fight for fair pay, supporting Scotland’s firefighters as they defended both their profession and the communities they serve, or securing sick pay for care workers during the pandemic, I have always believed Labour politicians should stand shoulder to shoulder with organised labour, not watch from the sidelines.

The greatest challenge facing our party is not simply winning the next election. It is rebuilding trust with the millions of people who no longer believe politics can improve their lives, including the two million Scots who did not vote at all.

That is why I am standing to lead Scottish Labour.

To govern again, we must first earn back the confidence of the people who founded our movement: workers, trade unionists and the communities they built. That means rejecting managerial politics and once again becoming the unapologetic political voice of working people.

Chairing the Scottish Labour Trade Union Group for five years reinforced something I have always believed: the best ideas for government do not come from ministerial offices or political advisers. They come from shop stewards, workplace representatives, union organisers and workers who understand their industries and public services better than anyone else.

Trade unions are not stakeholders to be consulted after decisions have been made. They are the founding partners of our movement. Scottish Labour should never be embarrassed to say that.

Across Scotland, workers are doing everything right yet struggling to get by. Secure employment has too often been replaced by insecurity, outsourcing and stagnant wages. Public services have been hollowed out after years of austerity while private companies continue to extract wealth from services that should exist for the public good. Holyrood has the powers to act, but too often the political will has been absent.

The STUC has consistently argued for an economy built on fair work, collective bargaining and public investment. Scottish Labour should proudly champion that vision.

That means confronting the failure of privatisation. STUC research shows that outsourcing drains between £2 billion and £3bn every year from Scotland’s public services through private profit and financial extraction.

In social care, too much public money leaves the system as profit rather than improving services or raising pay. Because outsourced care and facilities management are overwhelmingly staffed by women, it is working-class women who pay the highest price.

Real reform means bringing services back in-house wherever practical, strengthening collective bargaining and ensuring public money is invested in public services rather than private shareholders. I agree with Unite Scotland and Unison Scotland that Scotland needs a publicly owned, not-for-profit National Care Service where workers are fairly rewarded and those receiving care are treated with dignity.

Throughout my time in Parliament, I have championed measures that tackle poverty and inequality.

From leading the campaign that made Scotland the first country in the world to guarantee free access to period products, to fighting for universal free school meals, I have tried to show that Labour values are measured by the lives we improve. Universal free school meals are an expression of class solidarity that says no child should go hungry and no family should face stigma.

My politics were shaped at home in Blantyre, a former mining community, and by my experience in local government before entering Parliament.

I know the difference properly funded councils can make and the damage caused when local democracy is weakened. The SNP has too often centralised power in Edinburgh. Socialists believe power should be shared. Strong councils, thriving communities, council housing, libraries, parks and local services are not luxuries; they are foundational.

We must also back Scotland’s workers through a modern industrial strategy. Colleges, apprenticeships and lifelong learning are essential to rebuilding manufacturing, engineering, construction, transport and the industries that will deliver a just transition.

A fair transition means protecting jobs as well as reducing emissions. Working people can’t carry the costs of economic change while others collect the profits.

The rise of the far right feeds on insecurity, division and neglect. We will not defeat it by echoing its rhetoric.

We defeat it by rebuilding solidarity, investing in communities and defending every worker. Trade unionists have always been at the forefront of challenging racism and fascism. Scottish Labour must be just as visible and determined.

Scottish Labour should be an open, democratic movement where ideas are debated honestly, members are respected and selections are decided fairly. We are strongest when every part of our movement feels heard.

My vision is simple: a big-tent Scottish Labour Party rooted once again in every workplace, every trade union branch and every postcode.

The next leader of Scottish Labour should not simply seek the support of trade unions and socialist societies during an election. We should lead in partnership with them every day because they are the founding partners of our movement.

That is how we rebuild trust, restore power to working people and make Scottish Labour the socialist voice our movement deserves.