SCOTTISH LABOUR is ready for an election and prepared to deliver the change that Scotland needs, party leader Anas Sarwar is expected to say today.

Speaking ahead of a keynote speech in SNP leader Humza Yousaf’s constituency of Pollok, Mr Sarwar said that Scotland was being failed by “two bad governments” and that it falls to Scottish Labour to “deliver the change the country needs.”

Mr Sarwar said that the “distracted” SNP is not delivering for Scotland and that only Scottish Labour can lock the Tories out of Downing Street at the next election.

It comes after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that his party needs to win a large number of seats north of the border if he is to lead a “legitimate” government in Westminster.

Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 programme Leading Scotland Where? Sir Keir said the party needs to break the SNP’s dominance.

At the 2019 general election, the SNP claimed 48 of Scotland’s 59 seats — six of them taken from Labour.

The SNP has also been facing an internal rift after the party’s treasurer Colin Beattie told the national executive committee (NEC) meeting on Saturday that it is “having difficulty in balancing the books due to the reduction in membership and donors.”

Police are investigating the party’s finances in a probe which has involved former chief executive Peter Murrell being arrested then released without charge.

Mr Yousaf has denied the SNP faces bankruptcy as he confirmed forensic auditors could be appointed.

In his speech today, Mr Sarwar is expected to say: “As they turn inwards and fight among themselves, the SNP have completely forgotten what matters.

“When you have a party that cares only about dividing the country, it’s no wonder that the party itself is now irretrievably divided.

“Those divisions were of course always there, beneath the surface, only kept at bay by [former First Minister] Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell as they used their power to shut down dissent and disagreement.

“And just like they covered up the truth about their own party, they tried to cover up their failings in office which have weakened every single institution in Scotland over the past 16 years.”

He will say that Mr Yousaf is “no Nicola Sturgeon” and that “festering wounds” have opened in the party, promising to fight for change in Scotland.