CHANGE SARWAR DITCHES SLOGAN FOR NEW DIRECTION

Scottish Labour to distance itself from general election campaign after difficult start for PM

- PAUL HUTCHEON

SCOTTISH Labour has dumped Keir Starmer's "Change" slogan after a troubled first six months for the party's UK Government.

The one-word slogan - used throughout Labour's general election campaign - has been replaced as the Scottish party's primary message with one senior party source saying it is too heavily associated with the Prime Minister.

Scottish Labour has taken up the slogan "New Direction", a decision the party source said reflected the choice at next year's Holyrood election.

The "Change" slogan was used repeatedly by Starmer and Scots Labour leader Anas Sarwar during the general election as a way of hammering the Tories and the SNP.

It was seen by party strategists as drawing a contrast between the party and the struggling SNP and Conservative governments.

But since Labour's victory on July 4, the party's poll rating has tanked after a series of unpopular decisions by the new Government.

It scrapped universal winter fuel payments for older people, raised national insurance contributions for businesses and refused to pay compensation for Waspi women, who feel betrayed over changes to the pension age.

A party insider said Scottish politics is in a "different phase" and voters do not dislike the SNP in the same way they "hated" the Tories.