Shadow Scotland Minister Andrew Bowie has launched a blistering attack on Labour, claiming Prime Minister Keir Starmer is “definitely on the way out” and only clinging to power through forced displays of loyalty.
Speaking to GB News, Mr Bowie suggested the Prime Minister’s authority has evaporated following the scandal surrounding Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US Ambassador.
He claimed that Cabinet members were “forced at gunpoint” to coordinate social media support for the embattled PM.
Mr Bowie’s comments come after Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar made a dramatic intervention, calling for Mr Starmer to resign to save the party’s chances in the upcoming May elections.
Speaking to GB News, he said: “It’s impossible to tell how long he’s got left, but he’s definitely on the way out.
“He’s clinging on to power, just about, and is there at the whim of a Cabinet who were, frankly, forced at gunpoint to coordinate tweets in support of him yesterday just as Anas Sarwar was making that fool’s errand into no man’s land yesterday afternoon.
“I’ve been through this a few times before, as I’m sure many people will recognise. These things have a habit of rumbling on until they don’t.
“The end will come, and it will come quickly. But when that happens is for Labour Members of Parliament to decide when they want to put this Prime Minister, and indeed his Cabinet, out of their misery.”
Andrew Bowie said that Keir Starmer will be forced to step down son
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GB News host Alex Armstrong asked: “Anas Sarwar’s statement yesterday was designed to make him look strong, as though he was standing up to a very weak Prime Minister. But has he actually helped the Conservative Party in Scotland?”
He responded: “Well, look, what it demonstrates is that Anas Sarwar is completely out of the loop, out of control of events, and a voice of no real consequence within the Labour movement or the wider United Kingdom.
“He is leading a party in Scotland that is part of a UK-wide party yet he has now publicly expressed no confidence in that party’s leadership.
“And he is expecting the Scottish people, in May, to put their crosses next to candidates of a party that he himself has no confidence in when it comes to the direction of the United Kingdom.
Andrew Bowie said he feels a bit sorry for the Scottish Labour leader
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“I don’t think that’s tenable, frankly, and I actually feel a bit sorry for Anas Sarwar. He put his head above the parapet, yes.
“He charged into no man’s land, looked behind him, and found nobody there.
“But that just shows how inconsequential Anas Sarwar actually is in the wider scheme of things and why, while Labour is focused on navel-gazing, internal ructions and the civil war engulfing the party, only the Scottish Conservatives are talking about the issues that actually matter to the people of Scotland in this election in May.”
“The Conservative Party is ready for a general election whenever it’s called.
“But right now, we’re talking about the future of this Prime Minister, and it’s for Labour MPs to decide when they want to put him out of his misery because, frankly, he doesn’t look like he’s enjoying it, does he?
“As for who would take over, at the end of the day we’re patriots. We don’t want the country to collapse just so politicians can have their moment in power. But who is the best of a bad bunch? That’s for Labour MPs to decide.”
He cited leaked messages from Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who recently admitted in texts to Peter Mandelson that Labour has “no growth strategy”, as evidence that the party is unfit for office.