Keir Starmer would be first PM ‘in 14 years that understands Scotland’

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he believes the election of Sir Keir Starmer would be the first time in 14 years that a prime minister has been invested in Scotland.

Sarwar met stallholders at Loch Lomond Shores in Balloch, West Dunbartonshire, on Sunday and admired Scotch pies and regional cheese.

He bought sweets for staff on his campaign bus and was told by a stallholder: “Keep up the good work.”

Sarwar, wearing a navy blue blazer, jeans and Hugo Boss trainers, posed with a coaster he was given reading “Gaun Yersel”, which means “go for it”.

He said he is making each day count before the General Election, and insisted the Labour Party is committed to challenging misogyny and sexism.

The Scottish Labour leader said: “I don’t do celebrations: I’m one of those people that, when they have good moments, enjoys them for about 10 minutes and then moves on to the next challenge.

“We’ve still got four days in which to make sure we get rid of the Tories and elect a Labour government and I’m taking nothing for granted, and that’s not decided yet.

“So we’ve got work to do. We’ve got to get to work straightaway to deliver for people because there’s far too many people facing far too many challenges.

“We’ve got no time to waste to change people’s lives.”

He added: “I haven’t read Keir Starmer’s biography, I’ll ask him to summarise it.”

Describing his relationship with the Labour leader, Sarwar said: “He knows that he will always have in me someone that wants to see a Labour Party succeed, someone who wants a UK Labour government, and someone who will always fight Scotland’s corner.

“I know that we will have a prime minister for the first time in 14 years that understands Scotland and cares about Scotland.

“It’s one of the reasons why so many people have been driven towards the SNP and independence as they’ve looked at Tory governments and thought ‘these people don’t care about us – they’re not delivering for us’.

“Of course, there’ll be moments that we have difficult conversations, moments where we’ll be challenging each other, that’s the right thing to do.”