John Swinney served as failing SNP government's snarling, sniggering attack dog for years. He’s no voice of compromise – Jackie Baillie

The SNP politicians who've failed Scotland for 17 years aren't going to 'cut it' now

John Swinney is right when he claims he’s no “interim leader”. We know what John Swinney is, he is the “Stop Kate” leader. Crowned by the SNP establishment, Swinney is only there to straddle the Great Glen, the nationalist faultline which can be seen from space.

This is a divided party which has Kate Forbes on one side and the retread Cabinet, including Swinney, on the other. She’s going to be a lonely minister at Bute House gatherings. Pretending that Swinney and Forbes represent some kind of SNP reset is the most audacious attempt at political gaslighting since the publication of Liz Truss’s memoir justifying her 49 days in office.

Some of us won’t forget the old Swinney. As Education Secretary, he nearly sacked himself because his performance was so poor. His was the frozen hand on the tiller as school standards sunk to their current low ebb.

John Swinney's talk of collaborating with other political parties is at odds with his combative track record in the Scottish Parliament (Picture: Fraser Bremner/pool/Daily Mail/PA)

He was the deaf-to-counsel author of the named-persons scheme which cost millions and was written off as a breach of human rights by the Supreme Court. He’s the short-sighted dealmaker who brought the Greens into government to defend against no-confidence motions.

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In the chamber, he’s the snarling, sniggering, barracking partisan who was loyal in turn to Salmond and Sturgeon and always in the vanguard of the divisive politics which the SNP inflicted on Scotland. Now he thinks he is Saul of Tarsus, ready to be the sotto voce of compromise and conciliation. Pull the other one, John.

There’s no change from this change, as the SNP again puts its own interests before the country’s. The same faces in Cabinet, the same lack of competence. Their leader is someone who’s been there for every failed day of the last 17 years. Every single institution in Scotland has become weaker under SNP rule and those responsible remain in government.

The only new face in the continuity Cabinet is Forbes, a case of “keep your enemies closer”. There’s been an unhealthy interest in her morals but I’m more concerned by Conservative Kate’s politics. This Tartan Tory was Finance Secretary when council budgets were cut and taxes were raised. With two of the former Finance Secretaries responsible for trashing public finances now in the top jobs, more SNP austerity lies ahead.

The commitment to eradicating child poverty is an ambition that is shared. But we've heard it all before, and child poverty is still at the same level as when the SNP came to power. Making speeches is the easy part, defending oil giants from tax cuts while raising the tax take from nurses is what they cannot justify.

Women are always judged by how they look and at least Forbes displayed a sense of humour by choosing green for her appointment at Bute House. It was as if she had skinned the Greens and turned them into her dress.

Her campaign team, in the pit lane for now, came up with a handy slogan as she battled Humza Yousaf: “Continuity won’t cut it.” The people of Scotland need change and they know continuity won’t cut it. We need an election and we need a Labour government to put a stop to the division and decline of the SNP and deliver the fresh start our country needs.

Jackie Baillie MSP is Scottish Labour’s deputy leader