by Rakib Ehsan, Telegraph
The Scottish Labour leader embodies the worst elements of identity politics
Footage has recently emerged which should concern all of us. In an unquestionably sectarian intervention, the leader of Scottish Labour Anas Sarwar – speaking at a community event with the flag of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan draped behind him – urged more members of his own ethnic community to ascend to the “corridors of power.” He also proclaimed that “change is coming.”
Sarwar, who has been leader of Scottish Labour since 2021, heralded a new era: the days that people of Pakistani (and more broadly South Asian) heritage lead countries and political parties is now upon us. This means that members of such groups will not only have more decision-making power over which schools their children go to, but what is taught to them in the classroom.
Sarwar’s speech has emerged on social media after footage from a couple of years ago was recently circulated which showed his father, ex-Labour MP and former governor of Punjab, Chaudhry Sarwar, calling for the international introduction of blasphemy laws through organisations such the United Nations and the European Union.
While being a socially conservative Muslim who takes pride in their South Asian identity, it says a great deal about Labour that the Sarwar family – which includes a father with blatant Islamist tendencies and a son who readily indulges in ethnic identity politics – have made it as far as they have within a party that purports to be progressive.
For there is something profoundly hypocritical about Anas. While calling for more people of the largely socially-conservative Pakistani-origin population to enter politics and shape education policy, he previously supported the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill which would have made it simpler for people to change their legal gender.