A still from a video, which has been widely shared on the social media, of the shocking incident
Search
23 Mar 2026
Search
23 Mar 2026
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Anas Sarwar has said he would still “welcome” Sir Keir Starmer on to the campaign trail for May’s Holyrood election – but the Scottish Labour leader added that the crisis in the Middle East may keep the Prime Minister too busy.
While crucial elections in both Scotland and Wales are just over six weeks away, Mr Sarwar said the Prime Minister should have a “relentless focus” on the conflict in the Gulf and dealing with the impact it is having on Britons.
Even though he called for the UK Labour leader to step aside as Prime Minister, Mr Sarwar said he would “of course welcome” him to join him on the Holyrood election campaign trail.
Asked directly if Sir Keir will be campaigning in Scotland ahead of the May 7 poll, the Scottish Labour leader said: “If the Prime Minister wishes to spend some time chapping some doors in Glasgow or anywhere else, of course he would be welcome.”
Speaking to the Press Association, Mr Sarwar added that the Prime Minister “has got some big issues to deal with”.
Mr Sarwar said: “I think it’s safe to presume that a prime minister of a country, in the middle of trying to see peace in the Middle East and to stop the war that is happening in Iran, and to try to get stability in our energy markets and in our economy, that should be his relentless focus.”
He stressed, meanwhile, that as Scottish Labour leader he was spearheading his party’s election bid.
“This is a campaign I’m leading,” Mr Sarwar insisted.
“I’m the candidate for first minister, not Keir Starmer.
“I’m the one that is trying to change my country here in Scotland by electing a new government, so I will be leading this campaign.”
He added that if the Prime Minister was “demonstrating UK Government delivery in Scotland, then of course he should be in Scotland”.
In such circumstances, Mr Sarwar said that “of course we should have the UK Government coming to Scotland”.
Speaking as he visited a college in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Labour leader stressed the thing he was “going to focus on in the next six weeks is persuading people we need a new first minister”.
He declared: “I have one ambition and one intention coming out of this election campaign, and that is to make sure we have a Scottish Labour first minister.
“That’s the plan, that’s the ambition and that’s what we’re striving for.”
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
