Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has been on the receiving end of a brutal and insulting briefing from within his own power base. Here our Writer at Large looks at what this means for the man, the party and the state of Scottish politics

It seems a bit much to call Anas Sarwar a ‘f**kwit’, especially with the Alba Party still technically on the scene in Scotland, and Reform promising ICE-style mass round-ups. But that’s the kind of chat about Sarwar doing the rounds in his own constituency party in Glasgow’s Southside.

The comment appeared in the National in a piece about infighting within Sarwar’s home turf.

It seems, we’re told, that “a takeover” was launched of the Glasgow Southside constituency Labour Party (CLP) to which Sarwar belongs. It was reported that the UK health minister Zubir Ahmed – who’s in the same CLP – sidelined Sarwar to cement his own power base. Ahmed is said to have used local councillor Hanif Raja to help remove Suzan King as the party’s local government committee chair for Glasgow. That position gave her influence over a major Labour heartland, as well as council candidate selection and party discipline.

The move is said to strengthen Ahmed’s grip. Shaukat Sultan has replaced King in her other role as CLP chair. Seemingly, the chaos means the branch is now in breach of Labour rules. Half of the six-member executive team should be women, there are now only four members and only one is a woman.

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Raja says any claim that he was engaged in a coup is “entirely untrue”. The National reported that “Ahmed’s control over the CLP through Raja has been growing for months”, and that “members who never attend meetings” had shown up to select Mohammed Ameen as the party’s Glasgow Southside candidate.

One CLP source said: “I think Sarwar is a f**kwit. He thinks Ahmed is his ally. Sarwar thinks everyone loves him. Ahmed would stab anyone in the back.”

Brutal. It’s worth noting that Ahmed is seemingly allied to UK health secretary Wes Streeting, who was accused of plotting against Starmer.

The entire tale – if true – is typical Labour: more interested in plots than the people.

It also speaks – as does the ‘f**kwit’ quote – to the abysmal management of Scottish Labour under Anas Sarwar. He’s been the wrong man for the job since he took over. He’s cut from the same cloth as Keir Starmer: more keen on wielding power for power’s sake, than exercising power in pursuit of principled policy.

Like Starmer, he seems values-free. Last April, Sarwar called Peter Mandelson his “old friend”. After scandal broke, he claimed Mandelson should never have been appointed US ambassador.

Sarwar vowed to stand up to Starmer in Scotland’s interests in February 2024, and then did precisely nothing in that regard until he suddenly charged over the top alone in his absurd attempted coup when he called for the Prime Minister’s resignation.

There were claims Sarwar was duped by other rebels who retreated at the last moment, allowing him to carry the can.

Sarwar’s machinations backfired woefully. Starmer used the coup attempt to gather a little unity in a disunited party. Sarwar meanwhile was left looking weak and silly.

‘A f**kwit’, though? That’s cruel language, the sort of insult thrown to hurt an enemy. Nobody anonymously briefs journalists, using such language, without wanting the barb reported, so that the bard wounds its target.

This speaks to a level of detestation of Sarwar – in his own backyard. The source could easily have used less incendiary language. They could have called their boss an "idiot" or "fool"; they could have said he was unfit for leadership or should step down. They could have claimed he was "blinded by ambition". There’s a whole thesaurus to peruse.

But ‘f**kwit’? Sure, the manner in which we speak to each other has changed. It’s not uncommon now for politicians to swear. They think it’s edgy and "streety". It isn’t. Swearing is funny in the pub or in conversation with your mates.

If you start in with the effen cees and bees, though, in an official setting – work conferences, business meetings, media briefings – you come across as a dimwitted barbarian.

So while social mores have changed, they haven’t changed so much that calling your boss a "f**kwit" in the media is now commonplace.

Whoever used that word both wanted to hurt and humiliate Sarwar, and knew they were breaching a boundary.

It implies that the Scottish Labour Party has just given up. The mood seems to be: "Why not call the boss a f**kwit? What more harm can it do? He’s already wrecked the place. And we’re done for at the election." Sarwar cannot survive beyond the coming disaster of the May Holyrood vote. It’s doubtful Labour can survive. The only way to recover is to install a leader from the left who cares about the people more than personal ambition.

UK health minister Zubir Ahmed is alleged to have been embroiled in infighting in the Glasgow Southside constituency Labour Party (Image: House of Commons/PA)

If Sarwar is a f**kwit – and I don’t think he is; I’d use the word "eejit" – then he’s in a field of many. If the word "f**kwit" is being used here to describe an inept politician who looks like they are in it for themselves and should never have been elected, then I struggle to think of many MPs or MSPs who do not fit that description. Sarwar is not alone.

That we have reached the stage of shrugging such insults off is instructive about the state of modern Scottish and British politics. I’ve been in the reporting business for 35 years this year and at no other time in my career would a party colleague have called their leader a "f**kwit" and it just be accepted as part of the natural cut and thrust of politics.

We are really debased as a polity. Politicians have trashed our country, so it is unsurprising that others – even members of their own parties – now speak of them in the trashiest of terms. We are spiralling our way down the plughole. Little by little, we have lost all respect for those in power. We have ceased to believe that they offer change or hope. And so this is where we have arrived at: a place where it’s perfectly normal for supposed friends and colleagues of politicians to refer to them as a "f**kwit".

What a time to be alive, as they say.

Neil Mackay is The Herald’s Writer at Large. He’s a multi-award-winning investigative journalist, author of both fiction and non-fiction, and a filmmaker and broadcaster. He specialises in intelligence, security, extremism, crime, social affairs, cultural commentary, and foreign and domestic politics.

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