Keir Starmer: Labour needs to win back Scottish seats

Labour person Sir Keir Starmer has said his enactment needs to triumph a sizeable fig of seats successful Scotland astatine the adjacent wide predetermination to beryllium a morganatic UK government.

Sir Keir told the BBC helium wanted a "strong showing" successful Scotland to beryllium portion of a Labour predetermination win.

Labour sources judge the enactment tin triumph much than 20 seats successful Scotland, wherever the SNP has dominated since 2015.

Senior SNP figures said they were taking Labour's situation seriously.

Sir Keir was speaking to Leading Scotland Where?, a BBC Radio 4 programme connected the aboriginal of Scottish authorities pursuing the resignation of First Minister and SNP person Nicola Sturgeon.

Ms Sturgeon, who was Scotland's longest-serving archetypal minister, announced successful February she was stepping down aft much than 8 years successful the job.

She was succeeded by Humza Yousaf, who narrowly defeated rival Kate Forbes successful an SNP enactment contention that exposed heavy divisions wrong the party.

Ms Sturgeon's husband, Peter Murrell, resigned midway done the enactment run aft taking work for the enactment misleading the media astir its rank numbers.

The SNP is facing a constabulary probe into its finances. Mr Murrell was arrested past week arsenic portion of the investigation, but was released without charge.

Speaking to the BBC, Sir Keir said Labour had an accidental to rebuild aft the departure of Ms Sturgeon, whom helium described arsenic a "formidable" governmental opponent.

"I privation to beryllium not the premier curate of the UK - but the premier curate for the UK," the Labour person said.

"That means a beardown showing successful Scotland, truthful we person that legitimacy."

Asked if Labour needed to triumph a sizeable fig of seats successful Scotland to beryllium seen arsenic premier curate for the full of the UK, Sir Keir replied: "Yes - it matters to the Labour Party."

"That's not translated into a fig - but it does mean I request and privation to beryllium capable to amusement that we person important enactment successful Scotland, arsenic we bash successful Wales and volition person crossed England," helium added.

Within Labour, there's speech of the enactment winning 20 oregon much seats successful Scotland astatine the adjacent wide election. But Sir Keir would not perpetrate himself to that number.

The SNP has had the astir MPs successful Scotland since it won a historical landslide successful the 2015 wide predetermination victory, taking 56 retired of 59 seats.

Its emergence came chiefly astatine the disbursal of Labour, which had held a bulk of Scottish seats for decades - but present holds lone one, Edinburgh South.

Some SNP politicians person said they are live to the imaginable of a Labour revival successful Scotland.

"We person to instrumentality it seriously," the party's erstwhile Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, said.

But helium said the SNP - which opposed the UK's departure from the European Union - had to constituent retired that "Labour are wedded to delivering Brexit".

He added: "Labour is an alternate to the Tories successful the remainder of the UK and I get that. I tin recognize wherefore radical would look positively astatine voting for Labour successful specified a scenario.

"What we request to bash is accidental there's a amended aboriginal for Scotland… by becoming an autarkic country."

The party's lawman person astatine Westminster- Mhairi Black - acknowledged "there's going to beryllium a conflict connected our hands".

"I don't interest astir that. If anything, I deliberation the infinitesimal you're not worrying astir elections is the infinitesimal you go excessively comfortable."

She added: "I deliberation there's a situation - but bring it on."

Leading Scotland Where? volition beryllium broadcast connected BBC Radio 4 astatine 20:30 connected Wednesday 19 April and disposable connected BBC Sounds afterwards