Sarwar tells UK Labour to 'stay behind their doors'

Keir Starmer and senior ministers have been urged by Scottish Labour to “stay behind their doors” in Whitehall to avoid turning the next Holyrood election into a referendum on UK government failures.

-  Severin Carrell, Libby Brooks

Anas Sarwar, the leader of Scottish Labour, said Keir Starmer's missteps had left voters 'angry, frustrated and impatient', with his party the underdogs in the May elections.

Anas Sarwar , the leader of Scottish Labour, said the prime minister’s policy failures and missteps had left voters “angry, frustrated and impatient” , leaving his party clear underdogs before May’s election .

Asked during a speech in Edinburgh whether he wanted Starmer to campaign in Scotland, Sarwar said: “I would say the best thing that Keir Starmer and the UK Labour government can do is be behind their doors and in their departments getting things right and changing our outcomes .”

Addressing a room packed with Labour parliamentarians, candidates and activists, Sarwar said the party had failed to communicate its achievements to voters – including raising wages and tackling NHS waiting lists – while making serious errors, such as cancelling the winter fuel payment .