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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Severin Carrell, Pippa Crerar and Libby Brooks

No 10 confident Sarwar acted alone in call for Starmer to go

Starmer (right) listens as Sarwar speaks at an event in Scotland in 2023
Anas Sarwar’s closest allies said it was ‘nonsense’ to suggest they expected his intervention was designed to trigger an immediate rebellion at Westminster. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Downing Street is increasingly confident that Anas Sarwar’s call for Keir Starmer to stand down was not part of a coordinated plot by a leadership rival to bring down the prime minister, the Guardian understands.

The Scottish Labour leader spoke to several cabinet ministers including Wes Streeting, as well as former deputy leader Angela Rayner, ahead of his explosive intervention on Monday, but sources said he had not revealed his plans.

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