ANAS SARWAR vowed today to follow US President Donald Trump’s lead by setting up a department of government efficiency should he win the keys to Bute House in next year’s Holyrood election.

In an hour-long speech that included promises to cut the number of Scotland’s health boards from 14 to just three, slash taxes for small businesses, end rough sleeping and create a new “Amazon tax,” Mr Sarwar urged delegates at the Scottish Labour conference and the country’s voters to reject “SNP poverty of ambition” and “managed decline” and instead embrace a “new direction” with his party.

Despite recent polls suggesting that the party is on course to lose another six seats next year, leaving it with 16, Mr Sarwar set an optimistic tone, telling delegates: “I am here to submit my application to be the next first minister of Scotland.”

He declared a war on “SNP waste,” comparing the costs of the new Barlinnie prison, which has ballooned from an estimated £100 million when first proposed in 2014 to £1 billion this month, to that of a luxury hotel in Dubai.

The problem, he said, would be tackled by Scotland’s very own department of government efficiency.

Despite Grangemouth refinery workers rallying outside to demand an intervention to secure their future, Mr Sarwar did not refer to their plight in his speech. 

This prompted one furious delegate, who asked not to be named,  to say: “Anas Sarwar promises a new direction. But for the workers of Grangemouth, who were not afforded a single mention in his speech, it’s the same old.

“Scottish Labour’s promise of economic stability rings hollow for as long as they ignore Scotland’s most pressing and urgent industrial issue.”