Scottish Labour Leader Calls for Keir Starmer to Resign

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has called for Keir Starmer to stand down as prime minister of the UK in a press conference on Monday. 

Sarwar said he has to “do what’s right for my country and Scotland”. He stressed his commitment to Scotland as his first priority, adding: “The distraction needs to end and the leadership in Downing Street has to change.”

The Welsh Labour leader Baroness Eluned Morgan is also expected to call for Starmer’s resignation today. 

Starmer’s director of communications Tim Allan resigned earlier in the day, and the prime minister’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney quit on Sunday over his role in advocating for Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, despite Mandelson’s close relationship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. 

Sarwar was questioned by journalists on his previous comments about Mandelson being an “old friend”. He replied by saying it is right that Mandelson is currently being investigated by the Metropolitan police. 

The Scottish National Party’s (SNP) Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said Sarwar is now acting “in self-preservation to save his own skin”.

The SNP currently holds a majority in Holyrood, the Scottish parliament, with 60 seats. Scottish Labour, led by Sarwar, holds 21 seats. 

Starmer’s spokesperson said today that the prime minister “is getting on with the job of delivering change across the country”, adding: “It is very clear that he remains determined to tackle the job in hand.”