THERE is no such thing as an inevitability in politics — but with a Tory Party seemingly committed to the most slapstick election campaign we have ever seen and ministers doing everything they can to avoid being seen anywhere near a television camera, it is fair to say that the Conservative Party will not have the confidence of the country following July 4.

I hope, and indeed believe, that this will usher in a Labour majority government for the first time in 14 years — but in order to ensure that we need to see a considerable return of Scottish Labour MPs.

The polls suggest that this is more than possible, but we are looking at many knife-edge results all across Scotland. The choice therefore is between more of the same or new voices that will have the weight of a potential majority government behind them. Just a couple of percentage points could be the difference between five Scottish Labour MPs or 25 Scottish Labour MPs.

In a number of seats, it is now a straight choice between the SNP and Labour. I would ask voters to consider what the SNP MPs who have been going to London in a lot of cases for almost a decade have actually done to improve life for you and your family and beyond that to actually grapple with era-defining issues such as Scotland’s dependence on oil and gas, escalating drug deaths, or the continuing brain drain from Scotland to other parts of Britain and beyond?

Granted some of these matters are in part devolved (where the SNP has even more power to do very little) but when I speak to constituents on the doors what you tend to find is a general belief that all the SNP talk about is independence as the solution to all things.

That may have been relevant following 2014 but nearly a decade later no-one can meaningfully say independence is on the cards any time soon. The voting public has grown tired of promised referendums and national consultations that go nowhere. The public wants governments to act, not react.

There has to be an attempt to push forward legislation that alters the regressive structures in the existing UK to make life better for people in those communities most disadvantaged by our economic and social woes.

We can lift up Scotland by transforming the entirety of Britain, these are not separate concerns. If you can’t get a job with any long-term prospects in Dunfermline you probably can’t get one in Burnley either, yet our narrative seems to so often treat them as different unconnected worlds.

If a party is unable or unwilling to recognise that fact, then it is not helping communities like my own in East Ayrshire. And I say that absolutely aware that there are voters who will have doubts about Labour’s willingness to do that. I can say for my part that I will not rest if child poverty, climate change and economic justice are not cornerstones of any incoming Labour government.

No party is perfect, but we cannot go on with the same voices in the room and the constant refusal to even recognise we have problems that will take a decade to fix — not one half of an election cycle.

The reality is that Scotland has changed massively since the referendum in 2014. Labour collapsed overnight going from 41 MPs to one solitary MP, and despite a mild resurgence in 2017, things have not improved a great deal in that time.

The SNP has had unrivalled power locally and nationally and I doubt you will find many voters who will honestly tell you that this has led to significant change in their lives.

But I am under no illusions, Scottish Labour and the Labour Party more widely have to convince people they offer a cohesive alternative. If we fail to do that many voters simply won’t turn out on the day and in seats all across these islands that could mean Tories holding on.

I do not think Labour can be complacent about the threat of Reform UK either. Their message is as much geared towards Labour voters as it is Tories and anyone who has been following the rise of the right throughout Europe would be foolish to imagine we are in any way immune from that.

People in Scotland and Britain have a proud history of tolerance and community-focused politics, I do not believe the majority of this country wants representatives who are belittling refugees or stoking up culture wars for petty point-scoring, but we have to firmly stand against that rhetoric and for something bold and constructive. If you leave a vacuum the reactionary right will always fill it with hatred.

I believe a vote for Labour provides the foundation to do that — and I hope that voters here in Scotland and everywhere else will give us the chance to prove an alternative does exist. Let’s push back tired conservatism, short-sighted nationalism, and the cruel Farage-led right — let’s change the narrative entirely.

Carol Mochan is Labour MSP for the South Scotland region.