By Andrew Rosie:
Anas Sarwar only registered as a living wage employee, as an MSP not as director of his family firm, when he announced he was standing for Labour leader in 2017.
On STV on 18 October Sarwar lied when he said he did not campaign with Better Together in 2014. as photographic evidence proves otherwise and obvious prefers Tory rule to Home Rule when he says he would never under any circumstances back self government for Scotland.
If Labour followed Anas Sarwar’s “SNP coalitions are as bad as Tory coalitions” logic, they’d have to chuck out 60 Labour councillors who formed coalitions in Edinburgh, Fife, Dumfries & Galloway, Stirling and East Renfrewshire.
No doubt BBC Reporting Scotland will be parking its journalists on Anas Sarwar’s lawn just as they went for Michelle Thompson.
Herald reports whether he made “any money from this company at all”, he replied: “I don’t take remuneration from the company.”
However, according to UWS records filed at Companies House, Mr Sarwar was entitled to £333,000 of dividend income between 2003 and 2015, based on his shareholdings.
His wife Furheen was entitled to a further £196,000 based on her shareholdings.
In total, the couple were entitled to almost £530,000 up to December 2015, although the figure could now be closer to £600,000 as the 2016 accounts have not yet been filed.
The company records also appear to contradict Mr Sarwar’s repeated assertion that he plays no part in the running of UWS, despite being one of the largest shareholders.
In a statement earlier this month, he said: “I am a minority shareholder [in UWS], not a director, and play no active part in the running of the company – and never have.”
He also told Radio Scotland this week: “I have no role in the company… I have no say in how the company operates.”
However, in December 2010, Mr Sarwar signed a company resolution creating a new class of share which ultimately benefited his wife and his sister-in-law.
General reasons why Anas Sarwar is an awful choice of leader for Scottish Labour and will relegate them to distant 3rd:
• He is a millionaire
• His family business doesn’t pay Real Living Wage
• He sends his kids to 5-figure private school
• Glasgow Labour fought wage equality
I believe last year an opinion poll showed about 35% of Labour voters were in favour of an independent Scotland
Where does that leave him in that respect?
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In the press and on TV during the leadership campaign, Monica Lennon was quite clear: (in terms) more voters would desert Labour and back independence if they saw the party lining up with Boris Johnson by refusing to accept the case for a referendum.
Ms Lennon attracted 42% of the vote in the leadership election. So her position seems to have substantial support – although of course we don’t learn how many members/voters this actually involves!
The BBC News website quoted Neil Findlay after the result: “We cannot rebuild the labour party taking a hard unionist stance, I don’t think that is credible because that immediately writes off the 50% or so of the electorate who want a referendum.”
Mr Sarwar’s repeated calls for independence-supporting parties to put the issue aside and focus on the recovery from coronavirus is a pretty thin, kick-the-can-down- the-road, diversionary argument. The notion this is a binary choice is facile: we know that if building back better is to mean something valuable in Scotland, independence is essential and soon.
And Mr Sarwar’s ‘rallying call’ against independence is made even more irrelevant by the emerging evidence that Johnson’s Toryism is becoming even more entrenched with the electorate in England.
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Independence is neither Essential or needed immediately, I think you cant accept the fact you lost when you did have a Ref, Accept the result or your look like the Remain supporters after Brexit ,That went well. You have devolution to break tory rule in England, You dont even use the powers you have, Johnsons toryism may pretty be entrenched so was Thatchers and she fell eventually. Labour should come our for the union not the whishy washy maybe it is now, Ruth Davidson improved the tory position by at least picking a side. You knew what she was for,
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Alex
You ask
Where does that leave him
Answer
But a question 1st
What do you have with a Scottish (branch office) Labour leader in S**t up to there chin
Answer
Not enough S**t
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Methinks Gordie will be out buying up stocks of Grecian 2000 and fitting into his Capt America outfit to relaunch his career to save the Union. I feel ‘VOW’ version three being dusted down from the top shelf.
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Reminds me of an Aberdeen Labour councillor who claimed that a piece of land in receipt of public funds was nothing to do with him.
Turned out it was in his wife’s name.
Duplicitous b××××××s.
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More Labour lies. Who wants the poison chalice? Another useless, incompetent candidate. To drive the negative support down even further. They are running out of candidates. No polices, no ambition. Same old, same old. Stuck in a rut from years, abusing public funding.
Labour instructed not to mention Brexit. Wrap up in a union flag. Supporting Tory policies. No opposition just compliance, A total embarrassment. Wasting public monies. Support austerity and cuts to public services. Wasting £Billions on Trident, Hinkley Point and HS2. Illegal wars, financial fraud, and tax evasion. Labour cause death and poverty, especially in Scotland. In collusion with the Tories-unionists. Paid for doing nothing.
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He leads a branch of the Labour Party. A Labour Party which supports Trident replacement (WMD). A Party that wants to retain them based in the Central belt of Scotland. A Party that opposes the democratic wish of the majority of Scots to hold a Referendum. A Party that saturated the unelected House of Lords. I wouldn’t be too confident of holding 3rd. place!
The fig leaf pretence of being a “Scottish Party” fools no one except himself. What other Scottish Party has to lay on buses to bring activists to Scotland from England during past election.
The photo highlights his Better Together credentials. His Share ownership and treatment of employees reveals his Tory values.
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Sort of O/T – but election-related…
Has anyone else had a leaflet (or whatever you call an A3 double-sided sheet) from That Nice Mr Rennie about it only being the LibDems that will put recovery from the pandemic first?
Oddly, he mentions the johnson and Brexit, he mentions that the SNP want IndyRef2 within a year, but I can’t find any mention of Labour at all.
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Not had that leaflet through the door yet, just the Tory one which made great confetti and straight in the bin. The Lib Dems are hardly visible on the richter scale these days, nevermind having any viable means of getting near power to recover anything. Poor wee Willie, most people in the UK have never heard of him.
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Why the h**l have they not published accounts for 2016, that’s almost five years, what are they hiding? Trying to find another way of hiding his involvement?
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Exactly, how can they get away with that, surely companies house would be having a wee word by now…
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But, Anas is Old Labour – Don’t do what we do – do what we tell you.
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Your man Anas is simply a flawed pantomime character, who’s function is to warn us against the hollowness and dishonesty of British nationalism’s moral nature.
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John,Sorry O/T
The Assault on Truth: Peter Oborne I have just watched him telling his side about Boris worth a listen if you have the time.Twitter
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Anas Sanwar is a tory within the Labour party.He knows he would never ever be leader of the tory party not even in Scotland because of his background being a Labour party MP is a job like his job in UWS he sees no need for honesty bluff you way through say what you have to say even if you dont believe it yourself the people who vote for him are not priority nor s Scotland or its people , business is business the money is what counts.
He wont last long ,unlike the family business the spotlight will be on him.
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Terrence
And the spotlight shall melt him into what he actually is
And that is
A insignificant blob
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Wonder why he was the chosen one though. Might it be because he has plenty of rich backers for his campaign? Imagine if he starts harping on about low wages and how bad the SNP are treating the workers at FMQ’s, she could have a field day if she mentions his business and low paid workers. The guy could hardly be less socialist could he, so what are the Labour followers going to do, ignore that he is a Tory? Does he go straight onto the pay roll as an unelected leader of the branch office office of London Labour.
Still the British Nationalist media will big him up that’s a cert.
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If Anas and the Scottish labour party had any gumption they’d start now putting plans or at least concrete ideas in place for a federal arrangement. I honestly think this is there only chance to become relevant but equally honestly I don’t think they have the nerve.
Also wondering – do you think Alex Salmond or his camp think there’s a chance he could step back in if Nicola surgeon is discredited or damaged enough?
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LETS HOPE HE WILL MAKE SURE HIS FAMILY BUSINESS
PAYS THE LABOUR AGREED MINIMUM WAGE
IT HAS NOT FOR SOMETIME
LETS MAKE SURE THEY DO
AND FIND OUT IF ANY UNIONS AR3 NOT DOING THEIR JOB
FOR SCOTS WORKING IN BOTH WAREHOUSES
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