LETTING the cat out of the bag is a phrase that’s getting thrown around a fair bit by Scotland’s lesser-spotted Labour MP.
It was the accusation Ian Murray levelled at the SNP in a mudslinging match involving accusations his rivals wanted to let in the Tories.
But YouGov has delivered a satisfying riposte – calling Anas Sarwar, Labour’s franchise manager north of the Border, a Conservative.
Bit awks for @AnasSarwar - YouGov has him listed as a Tory politician. He's at number 91 in their ranking of Conservative figures' approval ratings. pic.twitter.com/RAKENMNmo0
— Laura Webster (@LauraEWebsterr) May 19, 2023
Not a small-c conservative – which is what shapeshifting Sir Keith has taken to calling himself these days – but a fully paid-up Tory.
YouGov, one of Britain’s leading polling companies, can hardly be blamed for the mistake, given Scottish Labour’s dodgy backroom deals with the Tories in councils across Scotland, Starmer’s ban on members of his top team appearing on picket lines, or his insistence he won’t repeal anti-asylum laws currently working their way through parliament.
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What’s more embarrassing is the Conservative Sarwar ranks at 91 on a list of the party’s most popular (least unpopular might be more apt) politicians.
That puts him behind former skills minister Nick Boles (us neither) and Boris Johnson’s environment secretary George Eustice.
An SNP spokesperson said: "Given Keir Starmer believes Labour are the real Tory party, he'll undoubtedly be happy with this Freudian slip.
"Listening to the right-wing rhetoric from the Labour Party, it's very understandable Labour are getting mistaken for Tory politicians."
Ross Clark, an SNP councillor for Larkhall in South Lanarkshire, quipped: “I don’t see the mistake?”
And the party’s head of digital Ross Colquhoun added: “An easy mistake to make.”
But the worst bit for Sarwar? His ranking puts the man who wants to be Scotland’s next first minister well below Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, the short-lived dynamic duo who just about drove the UK economy into a ditch.
