Highlights
- He forced Starmer's departure by calling for him to go in a Glasgow press conference in February
- Appointed trade minister by Andy Burnham after being elevated to the House of Lords on September 3
- Declines to withdraw earlier comments calling Netanyahu a "war criminal"
TRADE MINISTER Anas Sarwar has said that he worries about the impact of Nigel Farage's politics on his three sons, warning that families across the country feel their identity and belonging is being questioned.
Sarwar, 43, told the Times, "As a father of three young boys, all of whom come from an ethnic minority background — proud Scots, Brits, that's their identity. Nothing else. Countless families across the country feel as if their identity and their belonging is being questioned by a politics that wants to divide us and make people suspicious of their neighbour and suspicious of communities."
The former Scottish Labour leader was appointed minister of state for trade policy by prime minister Andy Burnham after being elevated to the House of Lords. Sarwar had previously called for the Lords to be abolished, but overcame his aversion to the institution because he believed Burnham was the "last chance" for Labour.
"I do believe that the single biggest opportunity for my family, my kids, for this country, is for Andy Burnham to succeed as prime minister. I couldn't miss out on the opportunity to serve and do everything I can," he was quoted as saying.
Sarwar broke ranks in February when he used a press conference in Glasgow to call for Sir Keir Starmer to go. He described it as "easily the most difficult thing I have ever done in my political life," adding: "I didn't sleep the night before. The grappling with it was for days afterwards too. To say what I said and do what I did was bigger than just one political event on one day."
He said he was conflicted "both in terms of how I feel about the joy of being part of electing a Labour government," because he continued "to regard Keir as a friend and believe that he was in politics for the right reasons," but said he "had to do what I thought was right for Scotland, what I thought was right for the Scottish Labour Party."
New role under Burnham
Sarwar stepped down as Scottish Labour leader after a disastrous set of results at the Holyrood elections. He said he met Burnham on the day he became prime minister and told him directly: "I cut through all the pleasantries, of course congratulating him like you do, and just said to him, really up front, that my ambition was to be first minister of Scotland."
He added, "I did not fulfil that ambition. The point I made to him was that 'my only ambition now is to make sure you're a successful prime minister, that the government succeeds and we never get into the politics of us versus them. And I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen'. And he said 'I really appreciate that, thank you, I want you to be part of the team, we should chat again.' And that was it."
Later, Sarwar was given a peerage and appointed minister for trade. He took his seat as Lord Sarwar in the House of Lords on September 3.
Despite having previously said the Lords "had no place in 21st-century politics," Sarwar said he still holds that view of the institution, though not of the people serving in it.
Trade concerns
As trade minister, Sarwar said protectionism in the EU and the US was at the top of his priorities. He said: "If you think about the UK's place in the world, we have increasing protectionism. You've got the expansionism of China. That puts the UK in a situation where it's got to decide what role it plays in the world."
He added: "And the role I want the UK to play is to be a global leader in what future-thinking, modern-day trade looks like. That is partnerships, collaborations, and when we talk about being the most connected economy in the world, meaning it in outcomes of exports going up, investments coming in, and good growth being felt in every postcode."
The government is concerned about the EU's Made in Europe scheme, which encourages countries to buy car parts from EU nations instead of the UK. The scheme aims to reduce reliance on foreign countries by boosting local production through subsidies and quotas that manufacturers must meet to qualify.
Sarwar said the scheme would harm both the EU and the UK.
As Scottish Labour leader, Sarwar was not bound by collective responsibility and took several forthright positions, including on Israel, where he accused Israel of genocide and described Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, as a war criminal.
Asked whether he still held those views, he said: "Look I've made statements that I've made. I'm not resiling from statements. But as you will understand, governments have to go through appropriate legal processes. I stated my position. As you can imagine as a minister in government what I say has to be the position of government. But I don't resile from the fact that we have a catastrophe that's happening in Gaza."
