Stranger's act of kindness to grandad made me the proud Scot I am today

Anas Sarwar tells how his family settled in Lossiemouth after a woman gave a young Asian shelter from the rain in the early days

- PAUL HUTCHEON

ANAS Sarwar has told how a random “act of kindness” by a stranger in Lossiemouth was key to him rising to the top of Scottish politics.

The Scottish Labour leader said his family would not have settled in Scotland unless a woman had given his grandfather shelter in the Moray town more than 80 years ago.

Sarwar has led his party since 2021 and is in a two-way fight with John Swinney to be first minister after the Holyrood election.

The MSP is Glasgow born and bred, but he told the Record Lossiemouth is the place that shaped his family.

He said his Muslim grandad Ghulam Mohammed arrived in England in the 40s by boat from Pakistan with the aim of earning money and returning to his homeland.

He travelled to Lossiemouth with the intention of working temporarily as a door-to-door salesman. Sarwar said of Ghulam: “One act of kindness defined my entire family’s story in Scotland.