SCOTTISH LABOUR leader Richard Leonard has promised to introduce free bus travel for all in Scotland.

Speaking yesterday at the Scottish Labour conference, he first called on the Scottish government to immediately extend free bus passes to those aged up to 25.

“If the SNP don’t do it, we will do it on day one of an incoming Scottish Labour government,” he said.

“Then we will go further. We will build a proper bus network that connects Scotland’s communities.

“Labour will build a free bus network to serve the whole of Scotland.”

The cost of extending free bus travel to those aged 25 and under could cost £13.5 million a year, according to figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Mr Leonard announced the new policy as he urged party members to stay true to Labour’s socialist roots.

He described himself as being “proud to be on the left of politics.”

Labour has “not come through the adverse electoral storms of the last decade to simply sit back and give up before nationalism,” Mr Leonard said.

He went on to tell activists the party should “stand by our socialist ideals,” as it had a “vision of the future worth striving for.”

He insisted: “People are turning to us again to fight their corner. And under my leadership, fight it we will.”

Mr Leonard criticised the Westminster government for the “calamity” of its approach to Brexit negotiations, as he insisted Labour had been “trying to steer a course through this mess.”

And he stated: “If we cannot force Theresa May to change course and accept our credible alternative, let me be absolutely clear, Labour will back a public vote.”

Mr Leonard was clear that “Brexit is not the only challenge we face” as he pledged that the next Labour government at Holyrood would “build a more cohesive society by ending austerity.”

But he warned the party it must not rely on public disillusionment with the SNP to win back power in Scotland, which the nationalists have held since 2007.

Mr Leonard told delegates: “We need an awakening.

“We have the vision of how much better our society could be.

“And I tell you that we cannot rely on an automatic disillusionment with the SNP to do the job for us.”