All eyes on the SNP over drug deaths scandal – but what about Starmer?

While much of the blame has been rightly placed on the SNP as the Scottish Government, less has been said about what responsibility the new UK Labour government has as Scotland continues to struggle with these tragedies.

The SNP’s role in this crisis is clear. As the government in charge of Scotland since 2007, these deaths have happened on their watch. Experts such as the Scottish Drugs Forum have been scathing in their assessment, highlighting a series of missed targets and broken promises under Nicola Sturgeon.

Drug consumption rooms have long been heralded, yet after years of talking only one will open, supposedly in October. Heroin-assisted treatment remains more expensive in Scotland than in England and funds promised in 2021 have never materialised.

READ MORE: Scottish drugs deaths figures: Numbers rise year-on-year in new data

The squirming and dissembling on the crisis from Health Secretary Neil Gray when interviewed by ITV recently underscored a government bereft of ideas and solutions.

But the SNP are not the only ones to blame for the crisis. A new government has taken power in Westminster, elected with a landslide. What role should it have in tackling Scotland’s drug deaths?

For years, the SNP and advocates have pushed London to devolve more powers so the Scottish Government can make more decisions on areas that affect drug policy, such as crime.

While, predictably, the Conservative government ignored the pleas, Keir Starmer sadly appears to sing from the same hymn sheet. His background as England’s top prosecutor, and as someone who has reshaped Labour to be “tough on crime” and often to the right of the Tories, does not lend itself to open-mindedness about reform of drug policy.

Public health advocates have frequently called for decriminalising drug possession as a necessary approach to the drug death crisis.

To do so properly, the SNP requested that Westminster reform the Misuse of Drugs Act, noting that it “criminalises people who experience the inequalities that drive drug use and presents a barrier to seeking treatment”.

But just last year, Starmer ruled out reviewing the law. He was criticised even by members of his own party over this stance, with Scottish Labour MSP Paul Sweeney, accusing him of “tacitly endorsing” preventable drug deaths and “placating” right-leaning newspapers by ruling out a UK-wide overhaul of drug laws.

Another key issue for drug deaths will be how Labour tackle poverty. Although the Scottish Government is in charge of health spending, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) noted that “funding arrangements mean UK government tax and spending decisions affect how much the devolved governments can spend in their countries via the operation of the Barnett formula”.

So often, a drug death is a death of despair and destitution. In Scotland, people living in poor areas are 15 times more likely to die from drug use than those in wealthy areas.

Yet Starmer’s Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has already hinted there will be “difficult decisions” on welfare and anti-poverty spending in the new government’s first Budget in October, setting the scene for more austerity and thus more drug deaths.

Scottish Labour won big in the General Election and is an important part of the Starmer coalition. Their MPs and MSPs should pressure Starmer on devolving drug laws and on anti-poverty spending.

They should also make clearer their plans for drug deaths if Labour take control of the Scottish Government after the Holyrood elections in 2026, as seems likely.

The SNP deserve the lion’s share of the blame for the drug death crisis but Labour, with their new-found power, must step up on the issue if we are to mitigate a devastating death toll.

Michael Collins is originally from Glasgow and has consulted with the Scottish Government on drug policy. He currently lives in the US where he works nationally on criminal justice and police reform