ANAS Sarwar has defended telling Boris Johnson to “p** off and do something else” when he leaves No10, saying he was using an “everyday Glasgow term”.
The Scottish Labour leader made the remark while appearing on the Edinburgh Fringe earlier in the week, when he also called the Prime Minister an attention-seeker.
After saying what he thought the PM ought to do after frontline politics, he added: “Let’s get politics back to a decent place.”
Asked about the apparent contradiction when making a second appearance on the Fringe, Mr Sarwar justified it by saying Mr Johnson had degraded politics.
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“So do I stand by the point I made? Yes, I think Boris Johnson should just p*** off and do something else.”
Asked if he thought that language itself degraded politics and if he could imagine Gordon Brown saying it, the Glasgow MSP replied: “If you accept that someone is a charlatan, a cheat, corrupt and economic with the truth then I think we have a duty to call that out.
“Boris Johnson has destroyed our politics and is a gift to the SNP.”
Asked why he didn’t just tell Mr Johnson to shut up and go away, Mr Sarwar said: “I’m from Glasgow, so I decided to give a Glasgow response.”
Mr Sarwar was speaking at a show at the Pleasance EICC, where he was appearing with Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross.
Later, Mr Sarwar told co-host Iain Dale: “P*** off is an everyday Glasgow term, Iain.”
He also mocked Mr Dale about his colourful suit and suggested asking the audience what they thought of it.
“They would be more polite than you,” Mr Dale joked.
“P*** off,” Mr Sarwar quipped back.
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