SCOTLAND stands at a crossroads. As we approach the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections, working people need more than soundbites and empty gestures — they need real hope. Hope rooted not in rebranding but in radical action to reshape our economy and renew our social contract.

That hope must come with a vision: a Scotland where wealth is shared, public services are properly funded and workers have real power and protection. This is the standard by which both Scottish Labour and the SNP will be judged. The era of managed decline must end. People need to believe again — in politics, in public service and in each other. Otherwise, the looming haunting figure of Nigel Farage will appear.

For Scottish Labour’s part, if they’re serious about forming the next Scottish government, they cannot simply reject the status quo. They must offer a compelling, alternative future, one that makes full use of Holyrood’s powers to reduce inequality, strengthen public services and deliver economic justice.

That means backing bold tax reform. Not someday. Now. The STUC’s research shows how an additional £1.1 billion per year could be raised, not by squeezing working families, but by asking those with the broadest shoulders to contribute more. That’s why it was especially disappointing to hear Anas Sarwar’s bombastic, if short-sighted, pledge that there would be no income tax rises under a Scottish Labour government.

With a black hole in the public finances and a rising cost to the vital welfare support the Scottish government provides, there can be no viable alternative, from our perspective, than to ask those with a wee bit more to pay a bit more. Otherwise, our public services face a colossus of cuts.

This is not tax rises on the wealthy for the sake of it. This is how we fund the services that matter: schools, hospitals, care services. This is how we give teachers, nurses and carers the tools they need and the cash in their pocket to spend in their communities.

But that will only happen if they and the SNP have the courage to be unapologetically progressive. That is what the STUC and working people across Scotland will be looking for.

The SNP, too, must reckon with its record. For too long, Holyrood’s tax powers have gone underused and public service reform has too often meant cuts, not improvement. The STUC was proud to campaign for — and win — an additional tax band, resultant from our tax report, raising further revenue for the public coffers. This was a small step. But we need bigger strides.  

The recent forecast from the Scottish Fiscal Commission paints a stark picture: a £2.2 billion funding shortfall by 2030. That’s not a far-off problem. It’s a present crisis.

If the SNP wishes to remain a credible force for social justice, it must stop governing with one hand tied behind its back. That means ending timidity on taxation, closing loopholes that benefit the wealthiest and confronting the structural inequalities that still define too many lives in Scotland.

We are living through an age of deep insecurity: rising rents, crumbling services, stagnant wages. Into that vacuum, the far right offers hate, division and blame. But their politics of resentment cannot be defeated with silence or pale imitations. They must be answered with purpose, with solidarity and with solutions that materially improve people’s lives.

That begins with redistribution. Not just of income, but of power. We need a government that prioritises collective bargaining, ends exploitative work and invests in green, unionised jobs for the future. One that puts trade unions at the table, not at arm’s length. One that sees funding public services not as a cost but as the foundation of a strong, fair economy.

Scotland is not short on wealth. What we lack is the political will to share it.

The STUC and our affiliated unions will not sit on the sidelines in this debate. We will press every party, Labour, SNP and beyond, to adopt policies that meet the scale of the moment. That includes: strengthening workplace rights; reforming taxation to serve people, not privilege and delivering for working-class communities that, all too often, feel left behind.

This is not about partisanship. This is about people. If Scottish Labour or the SNP want to be the party of working people, then actions — not words — will matter. The STUC is ready to work with anyone who shares that goal. But we will not settle for half-measures or reheated austerity dressed as reform.

We can have a Scotland whereby hope beats cynicism. Where every child, every worker, every carer knows their life matters and their voice counts. But we can only build that future if our political leaders are bold enough to fight for it.

To those shaping manifestos and priorities in the run-up to 2026: don’t retreat into caution. Be brave. Be just. Be ambitious. That’s what Scotland needs and that’s what the STUC will demand.

Roz Foyer is general secretary of the Scottish TUC.