Anas Sarwar says Starmer can campaign in Scotland after calling for him to quit
The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, has agreed that Keir Starmer can campaign for the party in the Holyrood elections just days after calling for the prime minister to resign.In a marked change of position, Sarwar said Starmer and other cabinet ministers were welcome to support Scottish Labour’s faltering effort to win in May, but only if they demonstrated how the UK government was improving lives in Scotland.Sarwar caused uproar two days ago by calling on Starmer to quit.He also said in early January that he wanted the prime minister and his colleagues to “stay behind their doors” in London during the campaign because of the UK government’s deep unpopularity with voters.He said they had been left “angry, frustrated and impatient” by its repeated policy failures and missteps.
Pressed by reporters at Holyrood on Wednesday on whether he would welcome Starmer to Scotland after demanding he stand down, Sarwar said he would,“The prime minister, and other ministers of course, if they want to come to Scotland and demonstrate that they’re delivering for Scotland by being a UK Labour government, that’s welcome,” he said,“But I am leading this campaign, I’m the candidate for first minister,Keir Starmer’s name is not on the ballot paper,My name is on the ballot paper.
Scotland will have to choose between me and John Swinney [the Scottish National party leader and current first minister].”His marked shift only 48 hours after calling for Starmer to quit will fuel suspicions that he is backing down after failing to get any significant shows of support from Labour MPs and none from UK ministers.Most of Labour’s 20 MSPs have endorsed Sarwar’s stance, but few MPs have done so.Some Scottish MPs and ministers are furious at Sarwar’s intervention.One described it “as incredibly high risk and pretty foolish” and said it could make things worse for Labour rather than improving its electoral chances.
Even so, Starmer knew his survival as Labour leader could well hang on the party doing well in Scotland on 7 May, they said.It is widely accepted that the nationalist party Plaid Cymru will win the Welsh elections and that Reform will do well in England’s council elections, with both being held on the same day.“If Anas does well and becomes first minister, the prime minister might well survive,” the source said.“If he doesn’t, it makes the prime minister’s position much more difficult.”Downing Street said Starmer would campaign alongside Sarwar despite the rift.
“He will campaign in Scotland,” his press secretary said,Asked whether that would be alongside the Scottish Labour leader, they said: “He supports Anas to be first minister, so yes,”The Scotland secretary, Douglas Alexander, has urged the two men to set aside their differences,Alexander is a co-chair of Scottish Labour’s election campaign, so faces questions inside the party about how he can support Starmer yet work for Sarwar,Asked whether he still wanted Starmer to resign, Sarwar said he stuck by his remarks on Monday but refused to repeat them.
Instead, he used more conciliatory words about Starmer’s promises to Labour MPs this week to change his approach.“I stated my view, I stand by that view, I welcome the fact that there is now general acceptance that things have not been good enough, that there have been far too many mistakes and things have to change,” he said.“I’m the one that’s put myself before the public in three months’ time.And people in Scotland deserve to know what my standards are, what I believe, what I’m willing to tolerate and what I would do differently if I was elected as first minister.”
Ukrainian skeleton athlete ready to be disqualified over ‘helmet of memory’
The Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says he is ready to be disqualified on Thursday because he does not want to betray his country’s dead athletes.In what is likely to be an extraordinary scene in Cortina when the skeleton begins at 9.30am local time (8.30am GMT), Heraskevych has vowed to wear his “helmet of memory”, even though the International Olympic Committee has told him it will kick him out if he does so.“I will not betray these athletes,” Heraskevych said after finishing first on the final day of practice
‘Casey should resign’: Abby Wambach leaves Wasserman after Epstein files
Former US soccer star Abby Wambach has announced she is leaving the Wasserman talent agency and called for its founder and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics chairman, Casey Wasserman, to resign after emails between him and Ghislaine Maxwell were revealed in the Jeffery Epstein files.The two-time gold medalist and World Cup winner shared a statement on Wednesday saying she was leaving Wasserman, an agency that represents an extensive roster of athletes and celebrities across the sports and entertainment industries.Several musical artists, including pop star Chappell Roan, have cut ties with the agency since Wasserman’s correspondence was revealed in the files. Wambach is the first figure of note from the sports world to publicly depart.“I read Casey Wasserman’s correspondences in the Epstein files
‘I’m happy to defend my country’: meet Greenland’s Olympian defying Donald Trump
Ukaleq Slettemark is a beacon of hope at a time when even the Greenlandic sports minister worries ‘Trump is crazy’ They don’t fly the flag of Greenland at the Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee only recognises independent sovereign states and, as all the world, even the most distant corners of the US, now knows, Greenland is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. But the flag, which is known as the Erfalasorput, was there in the grandstands at the Anterselva Biathlon Arena all the same, even if it wasn’t flying from rooftops above it. It was being waved by all the Danish fans who wanted to show their support for the only two Greenlandic athletes competing here at Milano Cortina.Their names are Ukaleq Slettemark and Sondre Slettemark, brother and sister, and both biathletes
‘A spiral is unpredictable’: George Ford on the science of his aerial bazooka
If the late Bill McLaren were still around he would have loved George Ford’s towering “spiral bombs”. And with the temperature dropping around Murrayfield, the old commentary box catchphrase – “This one really does have snow on it” – might not be too far from the truth on Saturday. When Ford launches an up-and-under these days, the ball virtually disappears into orbit.It has reached the point where the aerial bazooka has become Ford’s party piece. A murmur of expectancy now ripples around the stadium as, standing back in the pocket, the fly-half carefully tilts the ball in his hands to ensure optimum height and spin
England lose to West Indies by 30 runs at T20 World Cup – as it happened
Righto, Simon Burnton’s report is with us":Which means that it from me. Thanks for your company; peace out.We saw on Sunday that anyone can give anyone aggravation, but England ought to win their next two matches. More generally, though, they have to find a way of not getting slapped; I wonder if Rehan Ahmed will come into their thinking, or perhaps they look for more straight pace and give Josh Tongue a whirl.Next for England: Scotland, at 9
England left with no margin for error after defeat by West Indies at T20 World Cup
West Indies are making Group C look plain sailing, England are all at sea. Like, by and large, the ball (unless it was arrowing towards a fielder), England’s pursuit of a target of 197 never got off the ground, and after a largely pedestrian performance veered towards the end into a bilious combination of slapstick and horror they had been dismissed for 166 and, with seven balls remaining, been beaten by 30 runs.Had the knife-edge result against Nepal on Sunday fallen the other way this would already be another crisis in a winter full of them. As it is they will head to Kolkata, where they complete their group fixtures against Scotland and Italy, confident given the nature of their opponents of securing the wins they require to progress to the Super Eights but knowing they can afford no further stumbles.West Indies’ total of 196 was the third biggest of a World Cup still marked by largely moderate scoring, but it did not cause their opponents to be at all frantic
UK law firms consider action on behalf of women who developed brain tumours after using contraceptive
Wake up Labour MPs: the price of electricity is a crisis for industry and growth | Nils Pratley
Is it possible to develop AI without the US?
Apple and Google pledge not to discriminate against third-party apps in UK deal
Winter Olympics 2026: France beat USA to figure skating gold as GB’s wait for medal goes on – as it happened
Jordan Stolz crushes Olympic 1000m record to begin four-gold pursuit after reskate