KEIR Starmer says he has not seen a video of a Scottish Labour candidate who was caught on camera saying he helped the Tory campaign in 2019.
On a visit to East Kilbride, the Labour leader was asked by reporters what his reaction was to Tauqeer Malik telling a voter Labour secretly supported the Tories in Aberdeen South five years ago.
The bombshell admission from Malik was caught on a voter’s Ring doorbell and exclusively reported by The National.
Starmer claimed he hadn’t seen the video, which saw Malik say Labour “did not bother” in the constituency in 2019 as they wanted the Tories’ Douglas Lumsden to win.
Starmer said: “I haven’t seen it I’m afraid.”
He was then promptly interrupted by Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar who said: “As I’ve already said it’s not true, it was a stupid thing to say and this campaign is all about getting rid of the Tories and that’s why you have to vote Labour.”
Labour were urged to sack Malik as a candidate after the footage emerged but Sarwar refused.
Starmer was also asked by The National about whether he would continue to implement the Cass Review in full after experts at Yale Law School and Yale School of Medicine said it “obscures key findings, misrepresents its own data and is rife with misapplications of the scientific method”.
He said his party would still implement the review despite the damning assessment.
“We’ve been really clear we’re going to implement the review from the moment the review was published. That was our position and it remains our position,” he told this paper.
As he prepares to become prime minister on Friday – with polls pointing to a clear Labour victory – Starmer was additionally asked about whether he was concerned about the rise of the far-right in Europe and who he would be prepared to work with.
Asked about both Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen – who looks like she could win the French election after a big victory in the first round of voting – Starmer said he was prepared to work with anyone.
He said: “I’m very concerned about the rise of populism and nationalism across Europe and elsewhere. There are many challenges in the world and it’s very important we meet those with a progressive government.
“But what I will say is if it’s in the US, where there is a presidential election later this year, if we’re elected into government, we will work with whoever is elected into government by the American people, as we will work with any European leader who is elected in by the people of their country.”
On the eve of the election, Starmer made a speech to campaigners and hit back at the SNP, saying he didn’t want Scotland to “send a message”, he wanted it to “send a government”, insisting a route to a Labour government “runs through Scotland”.
He was in Scotland as part of a tour of the UK in the 24 hours before polls open.
Earlier on Wednesday, the traditionally Tory Scottish Sun came out and endorsed Labour and called on voters to “send a message to the failing and sleaze-ridden SNP” and vote Labour.
The front page depicts a hand putting a piece of paper into a ballot box which reads, “No to SNP sleaze, scandal & failures... yes to change”, written next to a box marked with a cross.
In an editorial published alongside the front cover on Wednesday, the paper stated: “At Westminster, it’s time for a change of management.
“It’s also time for Scotland to send a message to the failing and sleaze-ridden SNP that their time is up.
“And that means it’s time for Labour.”
