{"id":452642,"date":"2026-03-01T22:13:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T22:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/452642\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T22:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T22:13:07","slug":"anas-sarwar-would-have-to-pay-back-his-dentistry-tuition-fees-under-his-own-nhs-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/452642\/","title":{"rendered":"Anas Sarwar would have to pay back his dentistry tuition fees under his own NHS plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The SNP<\/a> have said the Scottish Labour<\/a> leader has been left \u201cred faced\u201d over the policy, after he announced that NHS staff trained in Scotland would be forced to work here for five years.\n<\/p>\n

\n However, the Mail on Sunday<\/a> revealed Sarwar\u2019s work as an NHS dentist fell short of the five-year period he is seeking to impose on doctors and dentists, by a number of weeks.\n<\/p>\n

\n This would mean that the Scottish Labour leader himself would be forced to repay any tuition or grant support he received when training to become a dentist.\n<\/p>\n

\n The SNP has said this \u201chypocrisy\u201d from Sarwar shows just how poor his judgement is \u2013 following on from his recently botched coup against Keir Starmer<\/a>, his failure to repay murky donations from under-fire think tank Labour Together<\/a>, and his silence over his relationship with his \u201cold friend\u201d disgraced peer Peter Mandelson.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE: Anas Sarwar defends Keir Starmer’s response to US-Israel strikes on Iran<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n Sarwar was pressed on the issue on the BBC Sunday Show, where he said: \u201cI graduated almost 21 years ago, what I\u2019m trying to do is fix a mess that the SNP has created in the last 20 years.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n When it was put to him that his policy is \u201cembarrassing\u201d since it would apply to himself, Sarwar said: \u201cIt\u2019s not embarrassing at all, because the premise of that question is to say that we never change the law on anything. If you have to change the circumstances that you face today, I maintained my role in public service, I’ve been a public servant for 20 years\u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Sarwar then dodged the question when he was repeatedly asked if he would have paid back the fees that allowed him to become a trained dentist.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"AnasAnas Sarwar on the BBC’s Sunday Show (Image: BBC)\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cYou\u2019re asking about 21 years ago,\u201d he told the programme.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI’m saying right now we have a situation where the taxpayer rightly funds free tuition for people across the country. I support free tuition.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe will maintain free tuition. But it’s also right that if someone uses their taxes to train you to work in our health professions, then they should have the benefit of your skills too.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cSo we are saying that if we fund your education and you train here, you should stay here and work in our NHS and social care system for at least five years. That’s fairness for the taxpayer, fairness for the individual, and fairness to deliver that future NHS.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n In response, SNP MSP Clare Haughey MSP said: “This is pure hypocrisy from Anas Sarwar<\/a> and shows just how poor his judgement is.\n<\/p>\n

\n READ MORE: Scottish Government issues advice amid US-Israel strikes on Iran<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n “Given the people of Scotland’s mood towards the Labour Party<\/a>, he may soon have the opportunity to return to dentistry and complete his five years anyway.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cTime after time Anas Sarwar’s poor judgement has left him red faced. With the SNP, John Swinney<\/a>\u2019s strong leadership is on Scotland\u2019s side, focussed on Scotland\u2019s priorities.\n<\/p>\n

\n “The Westminster<\/a> parties simply do not work for Scotland. In May, a vote for the SNP is a vote for a fresh start with independence.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The SNP have said the Scottish Labour leader has been left \u201cred faced\u201d over the policy, after he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-452642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}