Sarwar says the party manifesto sets out the six "ambitious" steps for change which are the "cornerstone of Labour's plans to transform our country and deliver a decade of national renewal.

The six steps are:

• Deliver economic stability with tough spending rules to grow the economy
• Cut NHS waiting times and fund 160,000 additional appointments every year in Scotland
• Set up Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean power company, headquartered in Scotland, to create good jobs and cut energy bills, paid for by a windfall tax on oil and gas companies
• Ban zero-hour contracts, end fire and rehire practices and deliver a genuine living wage
• Improve access to apprenticeships, support first-time buyers and create 69,000 Scottish jobs in the clean energy industries
• Maximise Scotland’s influence using the UK's global trade networks to promote Scottish businesses, boost exports and attract investment to create jobs

Sarwar says this “election is a key moment for our nations history”.

"It’s a choice between more of the same with the Tories or the SNP or change with Labour," he says.

The Scottish Labour leader says his party's manifesto for change "sets out the journey to a brighter and better future for Scotland."

He continued: "We need to change our politics and turn the page on the chaos of the past few years."

After six speakers, Anas Sarwar finally takes to the stage to unveil his party's policies for the upcoming election.

The country is crying out for change, he says.

In 17 days change can begin, Sarwar says.

Big Tent politicspublished at 11:15 BST 18 June 2024

11:15 BST 18 June 2024

David Henderson
BBC Scotland Political Correspondent

The audience also hear from 17-year-old student, Molly, who shared her wish that others would vote for Scottish Labour since she is not able to (as she's too young).

Also speaking was modern apprentice Neil who works at Harland and Wolff. He says he believes Labour “don’t just talk the talk but walk the walk” on climate change on the 4th of July he will be voting for change “to give our economy and our climate a chance”.

Annie Ferguson, 27, also speaks. She says people have experienced a "collapse of faith" in government and institutions, with her local area being voted most likely to require help putting food on the table. She was nine when the Tories came to power - not that she wanted (she said) to make the audience feel old!

And remember we also heard from a businessman and a neurologist too.

The speakers at this launch aim to show Labour is a big tent party - reaching out across society.

Big Tent politics worked well for Tony Blair’s New Labour - and more recently the SNP under Nicola Sturgeon.

Anas Sarwar looks to be adopting the same approach in this election.

Prof Malcolm MacLeod, an expert of Neurology at the University of Edinburgh, takes to the stage to share his experience of the NHS.

He says patients wait for "far too long" to be seen in emergency departments as outpatient lists grow, making people "feel forced" to turn to private healthcare.

He adds: "For me, this is what happens when a government loses focus on the day job of making things work - sticking plasters here and there.

"In truth, their heart is not in the NHS. For the SNP, their heart is in independence. For the Tories, it's about making money for their mates.

"We desperately need a sensible, competent government which is prepared to get their sleeves rolled up and get on with fixing the NHS."

Businessman Doug Thomson takes to the stage calling on voters to vote Labour.

He was a member of SNP for 15 years, and was once an approved SNP parliamentary candidate. He says he left the party in February because he "felt let down".

"I’ve come to the conclusion that this changed Labour party, this party of economic growth for a real purpose led by Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar will form the government that I and others have been crying out for," he said.

The Scottish Labour manifesto has now been published.

• You can read it here, external.

Ian Murray says Scottish Labour's manifesto has the "power to transform our country".

He says: "The power to deliver this is now in the hands of the voters. It's their time.

"Wake up the day after the election with a Labour government, with a Scottish Labour MP fighting for your community at the heart of the next Labour government on those green government benches."

Ian Murray comes on stage to welcome the crowd.

He says the manifesto highlights how much his party has changed under Sarwar's leadership.

Image source, Getty Images

While we wait for Anas Sarwar, he's a bit of background on the man with the top job in Scottish Labour.

He became a member of the Scottish Labour party at the age of 16, but politics was already in his blood.

His dad, Mohammad Sarwar, was the UK's first Muslim MP and held the Glasgow Central seat for Labour between 1997 and 2010 - until his son Anas succeeded him.

Graduating from Glasgow University, Mr Sarwar worked as a dentist in Paisley for five years prior to becoming a MP.

He was the Glasgow Central MP from 2010 to 2015.

After the Glasgow Central seat was won by the SNP's Alison Thewliss in the 2015 general election, Mr Sarwar turned his attention to Holyrood and was elected a list MSP for Glasgow in 2016.

In 2017, he ran against Richard Leonard for the leadership and lost.

He ran again, and won, in 2021.

A buoyant mood this morningpublished at 10:43 BST 18 June 2024

10:43 BST 18 June 2024

David Henderson
BBC Scotland Political Correspondent

This morning's event is running a bit behind schedule, but there’s a pretty buoyant mood here at Murrayfield, home of Scottish rugby - and more recently, Taylor Swift.

That must be why the Labour press team have been handing out Swiftie friendship bracelets with the word "change" on it - that’s their election slogan.

Now if opinion polls are accurate, Labour stands a good chance of becoming the next UK government.

So this manifesto offers a template for how they plan to run the country.

Much of this aims to appeal to wavering Scottish voters who’ve voted SNP for years.

But I can see no mention of independence until page 121, with Labour making it clear they do not support independence or a second referendum.

Instead there’s a focus on improving devolution with the promise of extra funding for Scotland, more cooperation with the Scottish government, and more powers for Holyrood.

There’s a big focus and bread and butter issues - like improving wages and working conditions - which are UK wide.

And there’s a promise to establish GB Energy - the new energy company which aims to drive down bills - headquartered, we are told, in Scotland.

For years, Labour have been on the back foot.

They’ve been badly beaten by the Tories at Westminster and by SNP at Holyrood.

The upbeat mood among party leaders and party members here suggests they think that’s about to change.

David Henderson
BBC Scotland Political Correspondent

Change is the theme of Labour’s election launch at Murrayfield.

Taylor Swift was performing here just a fortnight ago, so Labour officials are handing out Swiftie friendship bracelets this morning.

The audience for this morning’s event doesn’t look set to match the 77,000 who were at the concerts!

• Deliver economic stability with tough spending rules to grow the economy
• Cut NHS waiting times and fund 160,000 additional appointments every year in Scotland
• Set up Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean power company, headquartered in Scotland, to create good jobs and cut energy bills, paid for by a windfall tax on oil and gas companies
• Ban zero-hour contracts, end fire and rehire practices and deliver a genuine living wage
• Improve access to apprenticeships, support first-time buyers and create 69,000 Scottish jobs in the clean energy industries
• Maximise Scotland’s influence using the UK's global trade networks to promote Scottish businesses, boost exports and attract investment to create jobs

Hard copies of the Scottish Labour manifesto are being handed out at their launch event.

We will share the link to the online version when it becomes available.

The Scottish Labour party are about to begin their manifesto launch.

This morning's event is expected to begin at about 10:30.

Anas Sarwar, the party's leader in Scotland, will formally launch his manifesto, describing the general election as an opportunity for change “for this generation, and the next”.

Are Sarwar and Starmer a winning formula for Scottish Labour?published at 10:19 BST 18 June 2024

10:19 BST 18 June 2024

Philip Sim
BBC Scotland political correspondent

Labour is at a historic low in terms of its representation in Scotland, having slipped to third place at Holyrood and returning just one MP in 2019.

It’s a far cry from the party’s past dominance, when it built the original “red wall” across the central belt and sent prime ministers, chancellors and home secretaries to Westminster.

It has been a turbulent period. Since Jack McConnell was ousted as first minister in 2007, Scottish Labour has had seven leaders. It has struggled to come up with an answer to the constitutional question, and found itself shut out of the binary debate over independence.

But Anas Sarwar will be hoping that his partnership with Sir Keir Starmer could produce a winning formula at Westminster - and beyond that to be first Scottish Labour leader to actually gain seats at Holyrood, in his bid to return to government there too.

The next general election will take place on Thursday 4 July.

The UK is divided into 650 areas, called constituencies, and each of these elects one MP to represent local residents at Westminster.

Scotland will elect 57 MPs.

This time, you will have to present a valid form of photo ID at the polling station before casting your vote.

Are you registered to vote?

The deadline to register to vote is 23:59 tonight.

Registering only takes around five minutes if you do it online. It’s the same whether you plan to vote in person at a polling station, by post, or through a proxy voter.

You can find more details about registering to vote here.

Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of the Scottish Labour party's manifesto launch.

We will be publishing live text updates in this feed as well as pictures and analysis.

You can watch a stream of the manifesto launch by clicking the play icon at the top of this page.