ANAS Sarwar has been accused of “distancing himself” from Keir Starmer ahead of the Holyrood election.
On Sunday, before addressing delegates in Liverpool, the Scottish Labour leader told the BBC that he would be leading the Scottish Parliament election campaign.
While saying that he “absolutely” has confidence in the Prime Minister, that didn’t extend to his bid to take the keys for Bute House from John Swinney in 2026.
Sarwar said that Starmer would “play his part in the election campaign in Scotland”, but added: “The Scottish election is going to be led by me – I’m the candidate for first minister, not Keir Starmer .”
Earlier in the week, Sarwar dodged repeated questions from journalists asking whether he had confidence in Starmer, amid rumours that Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham was considering launching a leadership bid.
And, the Sunday Times reports that Scottish Labour insiders are now urging Sarwar to publicly break from diligently following Starmer or risk sinking his own career.
“I think there is an acceptance, now, that it has to happen,” a senior Sarwar ally told the newspaper.
"Early on, there was talk that Anas could take on an issue, No 10 would concede, and it would give him a political win. For whatever reason, that never happened.”
Speaking at the Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool, Sarwar accused the SNP of “embezzling opportunities from Scots with their incompetence”.
He claims the Scottish Government were given an extra £5.2 billion to spend by Labour.
However, Finance Secretary Shona Robison has previously accused Westminster of imposing "austerity cuts" and that the funding given to the Scottish Government did not match the level of increases given to Whitehall departments.
Sarwar told the conference: “That's why there's a stark choice before Scotland, in just seven months more failure and decline with the SNP or a new direction with Scottish Labour, the choice is the past or the future.
“That is the simple and straight choice before the people of Scotland and the need for change to unlock Scotland's potential. Scotland is a nation full of ambition, potential and opportunity.”
He added that Scotland has “so much to offer” but is being “held back by an SNP government that looks for excuses, not solutions”.
Earlier, Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander, who introduced Sarwar to the stage and is running the Holyrood election campaign alongside Jackie Baillie, said that the UK Government had not had enough time to turn things around since they came to power.
“The simple truth is this, no government, however determined, could undo all the damage of 14 years in just 14 months,” he told the conference.
Alexander said the party must convince Scots it is “good enough” to be in power at Holyrood.
He then accused the SNP of using independence, Nigel Farage, and Donald Trump to deflect from their record in Government.
Alexander claimed that focusing on independence meant “you start the day focused on difference, on division and on grievance, and in today's world of political, economic, and technological tumult, that approach is just letting Scotland down”.
In response, SNP depute leader Keith Brown MSP said: " Anas Sarwar cannot distance himself from the Labour Party's abysmal failure in government and the constant scandals, sleaze and chaos engulfing Keir Starmer's party.
"Voters were promised change, but under Starmer, the UK has gone from bad to worse.
“The cost of living is soaring, unemployment is at a four-year high, the UK economy has been downgraded, public finances have deteriorated, child poverty is at record levels - and families are struggling to get by as energy bills, food prices and inflation rise.
"Mr Sarwar is just another Westminster branch manager.
"He tied himself to Keir Starmer, rolled over on every damaging decision, and now he is sinking on Starmer's ship - slumping into third place behind the Reform Party in Scotland.”
He added: “The SNP will always stand up for Scotland and the choice of a fresh start with independence. Meanwhile, the only direction the Labour Party is going in is backwards, as Keir Starmer makes broken Brexit Britain even worse."
It comes after a Norstat poll published by the Sunday Times put Scottish Labour in third place at the Holyrood election, behind the SNP and Reform.
The survey put the SNP on 34%, Reform on 20%, and Labour at just 17% on the constituency list. On the regional list, 29% of voters are planning to vote SNP, with Reform and Labour tied on 18%.
It also found that Scots would vote to leave the Union should an independence referendum be held tomorrow,
