The Scottish Labour leader said his “first priority is to Scotland” and warned he was not prepared to “sacrifice” the country to “a third decade of an SNP government”.
“That’s why the distraction needs to end, and the leadership in Downing Street has to change,” he said.
“It is so obvious that we desperately need change in Scotland and in three months’ time the opportunity to get rid of a failing SNP government is one that is too important to be missed.
“We cannot allow the failures at the heart of Downing Street to mean the failures continue here in Scotland, because the election in May is not without consequence for the lives of Scots.”
Anas Sarwar held an emergency press conference and called for Keir Starmer to go (Image: PA)
In a curt response to the Scottish Labour chief’s intervention, a No 10 spokesman said: “Keir Starmer is one of only four Labour leaders ever to have won a general election. He has a clear five-year mandate from the British people to deliver change, and that is what he will do.”
Cabinet ministers also rallied behind the Prime Minister.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “With Keir as our Prime Minister we are turning the country around.”
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “At this crucial time for the world, we need his leadership not just at home but on the global stage”.
However, in a sign of how fractious the relationship now is, one Scottish Labour source claimed No 10 had “threatened all Cabinet ministers with the sack unless they tweeted out their support for Starmer by the end of the day”.
They also said that the indications from MSPs out door-knocking today was that the public were “pleased with what Anas said today”.
The response from the group of 37 Scottish Labour MPs was less enthusiastic.
According to Politics Home, Johanna Baxter, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, was in tears at Monday night’s meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), claiming she had never known such treachery.
There will be an emergency meeting of the Scottish group on Tuesday to discuss Mr Sarwar’s intervention.
There were cheers and applause for Sir Keir, who addressed the PLP.
He told MPs: “After having fought so hard for the chance to change our country, I’m not prepared to walk away from my mandate and my responsibility to my country, or to plunge us into chaos as others have done.”
Arguing he had changed the Crown Prosecution Service so it “better served victims of violence against women and girls” and changed the Labour Party so it could win an election, he said: “I have won every fight I’ve ever been in.”
The Prime Minister urged his MPs to unite against Reform UK, describing the fight against Nigel Farage’s party as “the fight of our lives”.
He said: “It goes to the heart and soul of who we are as a party, as a government, and as a country, what it is to be British. And if they ever get in, they will divide, divide, divide. And it will tear this beautiful country apart. That is the fight of our times.”
He added: “I’ll tell you this, as long as I have breath in my body, I’ll be in that fight, on behalf of the country that I love and I believe in, against those that want to tear it up.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (centre) leaving the Houses of Parliament (Image: Yui Mok/PA)
Mr Sarwar’s intervention triggered fresh accusations of briefing and counter-briefing at the top of government, with Wes Streeting’s team claiming No 10 was spreading claims he had pushed the Scottish Labour leader into his statement.
A spokesman for the health secretary denied he had asked Mr Sarwar to speak out or co-ordinated with him.
He said: “Wes did not ask Anas to do this, he did not co-ordinate with Anas on this. Anas is the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, he is his own man, and Wes has the highest respect for him.
“At the same time as Wes was in an interview saying that Keir needed a chance to set out his case and his plan, No 10 were briefing that Wes had told Anas Sarwar to make his statement. This is the problem.”
Leader Nigel Farage using a tee shirt cannon during a rally for Reform UK (Image: Jacob King/PA)
The row came as Nigel Farage put Reform UK on what he called a “general election war footing”, arguing Labour’s crisis at Westminster made it “virtually impossible” for the party to fight the Holyrood election in May with Sir Keir still in place.
“I think he should resign, and I think he will before very long. Anas Sarwar is a very big marker. How can Labour now fight the Scottish elections if Starmer stays as Prime Minister? It is virtually impossible and I think the same will come from Wales very shortly.”
Meanwhile, the SNP’s John Swinney branded Mr Sarwar “an opportunist” and claimed the move had “strengthened the Prime Minister”.
“For years, he has been a cheerleader for Keir Starmer and he’s described himself as an old friend of Peter Mandelson, without a moment’s thought for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein.
“And now he suddenly wants us to believe that Keir Starmer should move on, having defended all of the terrible decisions that Keir Starmer has made.”
He added: “What today tells us is that Anas Sarwar is an opportunist, and that he’s prepared to use every opportunity for his own self-preservation.”
