ANAS Sarwar says he believes Keir Starmer will “absolutely” lead Labour into the next general election, despite increasing pressure over the Beergate row.

The Scottish Labour leader was in Easterhouse to kick off the campaign for the next Westminster election, following the party's gains at last week's local vote.

However, the launch was overshadowed by reports this morning suggesting Sir Keir may announce that he will stand down as leader of the opposition if found to have broken strict Covid rules at a gathering of activists in Durham in April last year.

Labour initially said there had simply been a food break during the course of a long evening’s work.

However, a memo leaked to the Mail on Sunday over the weekend showed the meal had been planned well in advance, and was due to last 80 minutes and form the conclusion to the work event.

At the time of the Durham gathering, non-essential retail and outdoor venues including pub gardens were open, but social distancing rules – which included a ban on indoor mixing between households – remained in place.

Police in Durham announced last week they were launching an investigation into the matter, despite previously saying there was no case to answer.

Sir Keir has repeatedly called on Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak to quit over their partygate fines. It could make his position difficult if he too is fined.

However, Mr Sarwar said it was wrong to compare what happened in Durham to the Whitehall parties that have led to around 50 fixed penalty notices being handed out to senior politicians and No 10 staff.

He said: “In Downing Street, you had systematic, regular planned parties during the deepest darkest parts of lockdown.

"You had a recording leaked out of the Downing Street staff laughing and joking about it. And you had a Prime Minister denying he was even present and then lying about it in the House of Commons. 

“So let's not draw some kind of false equivalence between the two. Let Kier Starmer, answer any and all of those questions as suggested. And as I said, Durham Police looked at this before and found no case to answer.”

Asked if he thought Sir Keir should resign if he’d broken the rules, Mr Sarwar said: “I think we're getting ahead of ourselves. He's fairly willing to answer any and all questions. And he's adamant and confident that no rules were broken and Durham Police have looked at this before and found no case to answer.”

Asked specifically if he thought Sir Keir would leader Labour into that campaign, he replied: “Absolutely.” 

He added: “And the next electoral contest in Scotland is going to be not a referendum it's going to be a general election. And we're going to start that campaign right now. And build a coalition of the people across this country to boot Boris out of Downing Street. 

“That's a coalition of the people not a coalition of political parties. We're clear: no ifs no buts, no deals with the SNP.”

In his speech to some of the party's new councillors and activists, Mr Sarwar said it was "great" that Labour were now in second place, but they aspired to being first.

He said the SNP feared a "Scottish Labour recovery."

Mr Sarwar said:"So let's be clear what the choice now is in Scotland. The choice in Scotland now is not between a corrupt, out of touch Conservative Party and a weak, divisive SNP. The choice in Scotland is now clear. It's either a divisive out of touch, growing more and more arrogant by the day SNP versus a future looking positive, hopeful unified Labour party."

Mr Sarwar said the SNP could "only oppose the Tories". 

"Only Labour can replace the Tories. While other parties aspire to send a message to Boris Johnson only Keir Starmer, and the Labour Party can replace Boris Johnson."