The Russian state has long been accused of using exotic poisons to murder its opponents – whether the nerve agent Novichok or radioactive plutonium isotopes. Could Alexei Navalny have been killed by the toxin of a poisonous frog?

“I can imagine that these kinds of poisons are interesting [to Russia] because they are quite difficult to detect,” says Dr Eric Franssen, doctor in clinical toxicology and pharmacology at the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis hospital in the Netherlands.

Dr Franssen said: “Because in hospitals, we will not detect them in a routine toxicology screen. So perhaps this is a way to disguise intoxications.”

The UK and its allies say the toxin was derived from an Ecuadorian dart frog. These are produced naturally to ward off predators.

Sky News understands it is likely the toxin was manufactured in a laboratory rather than actually taken from the frogs. In humans, the effects are deadly.

Dr Franssen added: “We do not know very much of these toxins in humans because you cannot experiment, of course, with this kind of toxins in real life, only in animals.

“But there have been reports that people may die after 10 to 20 minutes of intake of this when you have a certain amount of these toxins.”

“This can be done by ingestion or injection in the bloodstream. I suppose then it has a direct effect on the muscles and the heart.

“And it paralyses the muscles, also your respiratory muscles. And then you become very low in your oxygen in blood. And also by cardiac failure, your brain does not receive any oxygen anymore and this may cause death.”

“Nausea and vomiting are side effects of these kinds of toxins.”

Dr Franssen’s description tallies with photos, published by Navalny’s foundation, of the prison cell where he was taken ill: vomit is clearly visible.

Read more:
Tests show Navalny was poisoned in jail, widow says
Russian journalists accused of working with Navalny jailed

Navalny was a political dissident who challenged Putin. He survived being poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent.

When he returned to Russia in 2021, he was imprisoned and convicted on trumped-up charges.

In December 2023 Navalny was transferred from a prison outside Moscow to a penal colony in Russia’s Far North, in Kharp: the Polar Wolf colony, known for its brutal conditions, capable of holding around 1,000 prisoners.

Despite those conditions, Navalny seemed in good health – and good spirits – in a court appearance on 15 February, 2025, before his death.

Navalny died the next day.

The initial Russian explanation was that he lost consciousness after a walk.

His body was only returned to his family eight days after his death.

And the official state post mortem concluded the official cause of death was high blood pressure brought about by a chronic abnormal heart rhythm.

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Only Russia could poison Navalny – Yvette Cooper

In September last year, Navany’s widow, Yulia Navalniya, made a dramatic revelation. She posted on social media: “In February 2024 we were able to obtain samples of Alexei’s biological material and securely smuggle them abroad. Labs in at least two countries examined these samples independently of each other and these labs in 2 diff countries reached the same conclusion Alexei was killed, more specifically he was poisoned.”

Dr Franssen said this sort of testing was feasible.

He said: “Normally, when people die, you may have autopsies, then you cool the body because you do not want that the toxins degrade in the human body after death [in order to] detect them. So it may be possible to measure toxin levels in tissue.

“That can be the lung, that can be the heart, it can be blood and urine also. But it can also be possible to detect not the native drugs but also the metabolites of these toxins. So these can stay longer in the body.”

That lab work has now been revealed by Britain and its allies.

Russian authorities insist Navalny’s death was natural.

The US military has said it attacked more than 30 Islamic State targets in Syria earlier this month in retaliation for the deaths of two US soldiers and an American civilian interpreter in an IS ambush two months ago.

Weapons storage facilities and other IS infrastructure were targeted in 10 strikes between 3 February and Thursday, US Central Command said, in its campaign to maintain “relentless military pressure” on what remains of the terrorist network.

“Precision munitions [were] delivered by fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and unmanned aircraft [drones],” CENTCOM said in a statement on Saturday.

It follows five strikes on a communication site, part of a critical logistics network and weapons storage facilities between 27 January and 2 February.

The military action is part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, which was launched after Islamic State fighters attacked US and Syrian forces in Palmyra, in southern Syria, on 13 December, in which the three Americans were killed.

Two sergeants, Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and William Nathaniel Howard, died, along with interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat.

More than 50 IS terrorists have been killed or captured and more than 100 IS targets have been hit “during two months of targeted operations,” Central Command said.

Read more on Sky News:
IS resurgent in Somalia
Syria moves past Assad
UK jets attack IS targets

The news comes a day after the US military said it had finished transferring thousands of IS prisoners from Syria to Iraq, where they are expected to stand trial.

Authorities in Baghdad had asked for them to be sent to Iraq, in a move welcomed by the US-led coalition that had fought IS for years.

Pictures were published of IS prisoners in the Al-Karkh Central Prison in Baghdad.

On Thursday, Syria’s defence ministry said the Al-Tanf military base in the east of the country, which was run for years by US troops as part of the fight against IS, was now under its control.

IS declared a caliphate in large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, imposing a brutal regime of strict Sharia law before it was destroyed by US-led allied forces.

Jade Thirlwall was on the verge of tears as she performed her song about ex-bandmate Jesy Nelson, days after her docuseries.

Jesy, 34, spoke for the first time about the pressures she felt while in Little Mix and the huge rift that has formed between the women since she left.

Her mum, Jan, accused Jade, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Perrie Edwards of ‘not being there’ for Jesy in her moment of need.

While performing on her That’s Showbiz Baby! tour in Pittsburgh, Jade’s voice became shaky as she struggled through the final lines of Natural at Disaster.

She put her hand on her heart as the crowd rallied around her during the song, which is said to be about her former bandmate.

‘It’s hard to love you when you hate yourself/ Can’t be there for you without negatively impacting my mental health,’ she softly sang.

Jade has not explicitly said the song is penned about the Boyz singer, but it discusses the topics of mental health and ‘burnt bridges’.

In November 2020, it was announced that Jesy would be taking a break from the band, then months later, she confirmed she did not plan to return.

She claimed in her docuseries that she ‘felt like no one cared’ despite calling the other three women ‘sisters’.

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This sadly led to Jesy attempting to take her own life after sitting down and telling the band how she was feeling.

‘I just felt like no-one cared… And I remember one of their responses being like “are you done now, is that it?”‘ she claimed in the documentary.

In the years since the split, Jesy has not spoken to her bandmates and even gone so far as to unfollow the trio on social media.

After being embroiled in a blackfishing scandal, she was criticised for appearing in a video with Nicki Minaj, who appeared to call Leigh-Anne a ‘f**king clown’ as Jesy laughed in the background.

As Jesy struggled with her mental health, her former bandmates were left feeling hurt as a lawyer informed them of her exit, which she explained in the docuseries.

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The trio were happy to speak to Jesy about it, but wanted a ‘therapist’ in the room, with Perrie previously acknowledging the fallout felt like a ‘dagger to the heart’.

‘We talk about it a lot, but I think in the moment we did everything we could, so some things just happen,’ Perrie previously told Alison Hammond.

She spoke candidly when admitting she ‘grieved’ the loss of Jesy, adding: ‘It is really sad; we haven’t spoken since she left.’

On Ferne Cotton’s podcast, she shared: ‘When you’ve been in that person’s life for many years and you’ve been through highs and lows, everything, all these experiences. And then poof, they’re gone…I struggled a lot with that.

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‘It’s really sad but sometimes these things happen. It’s a really horrible dynamic but you can’t force someone to be friends with you.’

On The Louis Theroux podcast, Jade shared she is ‘still getting over’ the ‘traumatic experience’.

Since the news of Jesy’s newborn twins suffering from SMA, it’s been reported that all the girls reached out to her.

In the docuseries, she shared that ‘it needs to be put to bed now’ and that with time away, they’ve been able to heal.

‘Things happen in life. It doesn’t always go how you think it’s going to,’ she said on This Morning. ‘But I think, three of us are mums now, we’ve all had time to heal, it’s been nearly six years, and it’s just one of those things that takes time.’

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MORE: Jesy Nelson reveals she made ‘secret suicide attempt’ in new documentary

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Bangladesh’s newly-elected government will call on the UK to extradite Labour MP Tulip Siddiq over alleged corruption, according to a senior aide to prime minister-in-waiting Tarique Rahman.

The former minister and Hampstead and Highgate MP was tried in absentia and sentenced to up to four years in prison by a Bangladeshi court, although the UK government has said it does not recognise the judgement.

Ms Siddiq was convicted along with her aunt, the ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and other members of their family over a deal to acquire a plot of land in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital. She denied any wrongdoing and said she was never told the details of the charges against her, calling it a “trial by media”.

But Humayun Kabir, the man tipped to be chosen by Mr Rahman as Bangladesh’s next foreign minister, said the new BNP government elected this week would not give up trying to pursue justice for the corruption case against Ms Siddiq or Ms Hasina, who has separately been sentenced to death for committing crimes against humanity. Ms Hasina fled into exile in India after her government was toppled in 2024.

“They’re both convicted criminals now,” Mr Kabir told The Independent. “So the judicial process is transparently pursuing them.”

The UK has no extradition treaty with Bangladesh, making it highly unlikely that Ms Siddiq would be sent to Bangladesh to serve any sentence. And the Labour Party has strongly criticised the process under which Ms Siddiq was found guilty, saying it “cannot recognise this judgment”.

“Tulip Siddiq has not had access to a fair legal process in this case and has never been informed of the details of the charges against her,” the party said in a statement earlier this month when an additional corruption conviction was added to one handed down late last year.

“This is despite repeated requests made to the Bangladeshi authorities through her legal team. Anyone facing any charge should always be afforded the right to make legal representations when allegations are made against them. Given that has not happened in this case, we cannot recognise this judgment.”

Nonetheless, the case is likely to have major implications for relations between the UK and Bangladesh going fowards if Mr Kabir does become foreign minister. Mr Rahman is expected to take the oath as prime minister of Bangladesh on 17 February.

“We will not interfere. We will let the judicial process decide their fate,” Mr Kabir, who is currently foreign affairs adviser to Mr Rahman, said when asked whether the new government would drop the cases against Ms Siddiq and Ms Hasina.

He called Ms Siddiq an “embarrassment” for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government, adding that the UK government “needs to be clear” on its stance about criminals. “So we expect the UK government will sternly deal with all those Awami League (Ms Hasina’s party) criminals and terrorists on UK soil who try to terrorise and destabilise Bangladesh using money laundering activities. And we will provide a list to the British government.”

“We want them back,” he added. “And in terms of extradition, we would want the UK to track these criminals. If we are going to be a strong partner with the UK on dealing with illegal migration, why can’t the UK be any different in dealing with criminals that have fled to the UK territory from Bangladesh?”

Mr Kabir said the UK National Crime Agency freezing over £170m in assets, including nearly 300 properties, linked to former Bangladeshi minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, was a welcome move. “But more needs to be done,” he said.

The Independent has reached out to Ms Siddiq for comment. She has previously called the trial “flawed and farcical from the beginning to the end”.

“The outcome of this kangaroo court is as predictable as it is unjustified. I hope this so-called ‘verdict’ will be treated with the contempt it deserves. My focus has always been my constituents in Hampstead and Highgate and I refuse to be distracted by the dirty politics of Bangladesh,” she said.

The Democrat broke his silence on the shocking social media post and warned the US political environment had descended into a “clown show”.

Barack Obama has slammed Donald Trump after he shared a racist video of the former president and his wife.

The Democrat broke his silence on the shocking social media post, warning the “shame” and “decorum” which once led US politics has now been lost.

He finally spoke out on the February 5 social media post shared by the current US president’s account, which featured the Obamas as primates in a jungle.

The video was later deleted but Trump refused to apologise and instead blamed a staff member, saying: “I didn’t make a mistake.”

In an interview with a podcaster, Obama said the US political environment had descended into a “clown show”.

The former-president was asked directly about the racist video by host Brian Tyler Cohen, and while Obama did not name Trump directly he did issue a scathing view on the current administration, writes the Mirror.

Obama said: “First of all, I think it’s important to recognise that the majority of the American people find this behaviour deeply troubling.

“It is true that it gets attention. It’s true that it’s a distraction.” Obama added that while travelling across the US he meets people who “still believe in decency, courtesy, kindness”.

He added: “There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television. And what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? That’s been lost.”

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The racist Obama meme received backlash from inside the Republican Party, while most have previously rushed to defend Trump.

Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina said the post was “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House”.

Senator Roger Wicker, from Mississippi, said: “This is totally unacceptable. The president should take it down and apologize.” Senator Pete Ricketts, of Nebraska, said “a reasonable person sees the racist context”.

The video featured a barrage of posts that amplified his false claims the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, despite no evidence of systemic fraud being found.

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A 30,000-seater stadium Wales played several Six Nations matches at has been offered a new lease of life after being abandoned since 2012

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An abandoned former Six Nations stadium is set to be revived thanks to a £380million redevelopment project.

Italy’s Stadio Flaminio, which held Six Nations fixtures for over a decade and hosted Wales on several occasions, is now in decay. The 30,000 capacity ground in Rome first opened in 1959 ahead of the 1960 Summer Olympic Games.

It served mainly as a football venue but began hosting rugby in 2000, when Italy debuted in the Six Nations. But the arena was ultimately deemed too small, prompting the national team to relocate to the much larger nearby Stadio Olimpico in 2012.

Despite being refurbished in 2008, Stadio Flaminio has deteriorated significantly since it stopped hosting rugby matches and regular music events, with the stadium now lying in ruin and being reclaimed by nature.

Now, Serie A club Lazio have drawn up plans to resurrect the iconic stadium, having submitted plans to the owners – the Municipality of Rome. The next step is for the municipal offices to examine the plans before the project phase, which will cost an estimated £380m in total, can begin.

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Lazio released a statement last week, saying: “A press conference will be held on Tuesday, February 17, at 10.30am at the Formello Training Center to officially present the Stadio Flaminio project, which has already been submitted to the City of Rome.

“During the meeting, all the contents of the project proposal will be explained in a comprehensive and in-depth manner. The professionals, engineers, architects and consultants who contributed to its development will be present, in order to delve into the technical merits of each aspect.

“The project will also be presented through a dedicated video, which will accompany the technical presentation and illustrate its vision, architectural features and functional development. The entire event will be broadcast live on the club’s official platform, allowing fans and citizens to follow the presentation in its entirety.”

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The conference will look at various matters in depth, including the land redevelopment project and its benefits for the city of Rome. To support the plans, Lazio are set to take out a £246m loan to be paid over the course of 30 years, with an additional £74m financed by the club while a further £21m will come from public contributions.

It is expected that the refurbishment, which could take around three years, will increase the capacity to 50,000, with work beginning within a few months if Lazio are granted permission. The historic stands will not be removed as it is a listed building, instead being covered by a steel structure which will raise the height of the stadium.

Wales made their inaugural trip to the venue in April 2001, a year after Italy’s Six Nations debut. The Dragons emerged victorious 33-23, with Gareth Cooper crossing the line once and Scott Gibbs scoring twice to secure the win.

In later years, Wales, whose recent defeat to Italy proved to be the tipping point for now-former head coach Warren Gatland, experienced mixed fortunes in Rome.

Italy claimed their first victory over Wales when they hosted the match in 2003 and achieved the same result four years later in 2007.

Wales, however, won at the ground on three further occasions, giving them a tally of four wins and two defeats at the now-derelict stadium. Throughout its history, the Stadio Flaminio has also hosted a variety of other sporting occasions.

During the 1989/1990 Serie A season, both Roma and Lazio temporarily made it their home while the Stadio Olimpico underwent refurbishment works. The venue has also welcomed major music acts, with David Bowie performing in front of 45,000 spectators in 1987, while Pink Floyd and Bruce Springsteen have also graced its stage.

Residents have voiced fears about overtourism in the picture-perfect village.

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The “Venice of the Cotswolds” is now pushing for a ban on coaches in the village centre amid concerns about “Disneyfication” and overtourism fears. Approximately 100 residents in Bourton-on-the-Water expressed their concerns about overtourism at a meeting before Shire Hall and District chiefs in November.

This week, the Parish Council voted to request an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO) to restrict coach access into Station Road from the Fosseway, Rissington Road and the Steeps. The motion represents a significant step in Bourton’s continuing efforts to tackle longstanding resident concerns regarding the impact of substantial volumes of coach traffic on key routes through the village.

District Councillor Jon Wareing (LD, Bourton Village), who has campaigned on the issue in recent years, urged parish councillors to support the proposal to ask Gloucestershire County Council for the ETRO, reports Gloucestershire Live.

“This is not a new position,” he said. “The Parish Council previously supported similar measures in 2024, reflecting sustained public concern about congestion, safety and quality of life impacts linked to unrestricted coach access through the village centre.”

He added that the situation has now changed, with clearer understanding that enforcement is achievable, including through Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology.

This is viewed as removing one of the historic barriers to progressing traffic restrictions. Cllr Wareing stated that all parties must begin collaborating to identify a viable long-term solution comparable to those implemented in locations such as Clovelly, St Ives, York, Bath, Oxford and Cambridge.

He emphasised that the decision ought to be viewed as an initial step towards addressing the broader systemic issue of the substantial number of visitors arriving by vehicle in Bourton annually.

“It’s not just coaches – it’s cars as well,” he said. “People often refer to Bourton as the Venice of the Cotswolds.

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“Venice is widely seen as unsustainable because visitor numbers overwhelm a small, fragile historic city – pushing out residents, damaging heritage and infrastructure, and putting pressure on the environment, retail and public services.

“The same risks exist here. We could become Venice in the Cotswolds in terms of the impact on our heritage village.

“We need to reverse the ‘Disneyfication’ of Bourton and develop a regenerative approach, where tourism is managed deliberately to support local life rather than displace it.”

County Councillor Paul Hodgkinson (LD, Bourton-on-the-Water and Northleach) said he understood residents’ frustration with certain coaches failing to use the designated drop-off and pick-up point in Meadow Way.

He confirmed that Shire Hall is assessing the effectiveness of the interim measure, which was devised to divert coach traffic away from the village centre. “We are reviewing the effectiveness of that this week and will do so again in May. It’s really important that all coaches use the point legally,” he said.

“I am committed to making sure residents are safe and that coaches cause the minimum disruption, whilst helping local businesses to be successful.

“At the County Council we will definitely take this request seriously and I’ll be talking to council officers about how it could work.”

Martin Odegaard has revealed he is in for anxious few days before he can determine the extent of the knee injury he suffered against Brentford.

The Arsenal skipper had missed the wins over Chelsea, in the Carabao Cup, and Sunderland but made his return as a second half substitute at the Gtech Stadium.

Odegaard, who replaced the struggling Eberechi Eze at the interval, turned the game in Arsenal’s favour and the league leaders looked to be on the way to a vital three points before being pegged back by Keane Lewis-Potter’s equaliser.

The Norway international was hurt attempting to block the Brentford forward from getting to the ball first and although he was able to complete the game, Odegaard looked far from comfortable and was seen limping through the mixed zone after the game.

Mikel Arteta’s side are back in action this afternoon against Wigan in the FA Cup and look certain to be without their skipper.

With Mikel Merino out the season, Ethan Nwaneri on loan and the aforementioned Eze in the doldrums, Arsenal can ill-afford to be without Odegaard for any length of time.

Wrting in Sunday’s matchday programme,Odegaard clarified the situation and said: ‘I picked up a bit of an injury when they (Brentford) scored their goal, but hopefully it’s not too bad.

‘We’ll see how it goes in the build-up to today’s game and over the next few days.

‘I tried to clear the ball as it came down, but instead kicked into the player a bit, and ended up over-stretching my leg, which pinched the knee.

‘I was able to carry on, but on Friday morning it was very sore, so I was worried of course, but thankfully it looks like it’s not too bad.’

Despite their recent wobble in the Premier League, where they have won just two of their last six games, Arsenal are still challenging on four fronts this season and a plumb FA Cup home tie against League One opposition could represent the chance to rebuild some confidence.

Odegaard said: ‘Today it’s a change of focus in the FA Cup, which is a big target for us.

‘This group of players hasn’t had a run in this competition, and it’s definitely something we want to do.

‘We know we can do better in this competition.

‘In recent years, we’ve gone out quite early, so that’s something we want to make better and it’s another competition we want to go all the way in.’

MORE: Arsenal vs Wigan: Predicted FA Cup lineup today and confirmed team news

MORE: Alan Shearer says Arsenal were ‘better’ without Mikel Arteta’s £67.5m signing

MORE: Man Utd urged to hire Champions League manager to catch Arsenal and Man City

NHS Fife bosses confirmed Dr Beth Upton had ‘left the organisation’ after Sandie won a legal action over her suspension amid a row changing room row with the transidentified male doctor.

The trans medic at the centre of the Sandie Peggie employment tribunal has left the NHS.

NHS Fife bosses today confirmed Dr Beth Upton had “left the organisation” after Sandie won a legal action against the health board over her suspension amid a changing room row with the transidentified male doctor.

Sandie, 56, has vowed to fight on after she launched an appeal against the judgement in her case, which was issued in December.

A spokesperson for NHS Fife confirmed 30-year-old Upton’s departure.

A statement said: “NHS Fife can confirm that Dr Beth Upton left the organisation at the end of 2025.

“As this is a personal employment matter, we will be making no further comment.”

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Sandie complained about sharing a female changing room with the doctor, who was born male but now identifies as a woman.

She launched the legal action against her employers in 2024 after she was suspended following the row over the use of a female changing room at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.

The legal process cost the taxpayer £400,000 and a long-awaited judgement found Sandie, from Glenrothes, had been unlawfully harassed by health bosses over the matter.

But it dismissed her other claims, including victimisation and discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

The judgement was mired in controversy after it was found to have “misquoted” earlier rulings.

Announcing her decision to appeal against the ruling, mum-of-two Sandie said: “I’m not a campaigner – and I had never heard of the phrase ‘gender critical’ when I raised complaints over two years ago about the decision to allow men into female-only changing rooms.

“I just knew instinctively that it wasn’t right that women were expected to undress in front of men in private spaces, and I still believe this to be the case.

“While I am delighted the tribunal was critical of Fife Health Board, and found they had harassed me, their judgement, I believe, falls short and that is why I certainly won’t be giving up this legal fight anytime soon.”

Margaret Gribbon, Sandie’s solicitor, claimed some of the findings in the employment tribunal’s judgement are “problematic”.

The Employment Tribunal service was forced to issue an amended version of its 300-page judgement, amid claims it had included a “made-up quote”.

The document included a reference to a line supposedly from a leading gender campaigner’s separate tribunal from 2021.

Judge Kemp, who earns £167,167 a year, was facing questions over how the false quote was included in the final judgement.

Maya Forstater, who leads the sex-based rights organisation Sex Matters, said: “There is a partial quote from the Supreme Court’s judgement in the For Women Scotland case that has been edited so that its meaning is completely reversed. Mistakes like this severely undermine people’s confidence in the legal process.”

When John Swinney was asked whether he still had faith in the tribunal’s judgement, The First Minister said: “The conduct of an employment tribunal is a completely independent process to government.”

NHS Fife said it was “aware that the tribunal has now updated the judgement”.

Michael Foran, an associate professor of law at Oxford University, claimed Sandie’s legal team could overturn the tribunal’s interpretation of the Supreme Court ruling.

While Harry Potter author JK Rowling tweeted about the error, saying: “Judge Kemp and the Judicial Office need to explain exactly how this bogus quote made its way into the ruling.

“Misrepresentations of the Forstater ruling are commonplace in the trans activist community but for this to turn up in a court ruling is shocking.”

Lats month, NHS Fife was accused of secrecy over the scandal after it blocked dozens of freedom of information requests.

The board refused to proactively release information about the case – including how much it cost taxpayers to fight it.

NHS Fife blocked 43 FoI requests as of November last year. A probe by the Scottish Information Commissioner remains ongoing.

Tory MSP Murdo Fraser claimed NHS Fife had an “addiction to secrecy”.

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The new poll find support for Sarwar, but Scottish Labour is still languishing in the polls.

Scots have swung behind Anas Sarwar over his decision to call for Keir Starmer to quit as Prime Minister. A new poll has found a majority believing the Scottish Labour leader made the right move in demanding the PM’s resignation.

But his decision has not shifted support for his struggling party, with Labour still in third place for the Holyrood election. Sarwar stunned observers on Monday after he staged an unscheduled press conference urging Starmer to go.

He claimed the PM had made too many mistakes and called for new leadership in Downing Street. But his stance divided his party as Scottish Labour MPs lined up to support Starmer.

A new Norstat poll of 1,001 people, conducted after Sarwar’s press conference, found 52 per cent backing the Glasgow MSP against 26 per cent who took the opposite view. Starmer’s approval rating is now minus 47 in Scotland and just 15 per cent of voters believe he is doing a good job. A little over 40 per cent of Scots believe he should resign immediately.

However, the polling on the Holyrood election continues to be grim for Sarwar. The snapshot found 17 per cent of Scottish voters planning to back Labour with their constituency vote and regional ballot.

The party is trailing the SNP by a double-digit margin and is just behind Nigel Farage’s Reform UK. If replicated on May 7th, such a result would be the worst ever performance by Scottish Labour at a Holyrood election.

READ MORE: MP mocks Anas Sarwar’s ‘Brooklyn Beckham’ moment in explosive Labour meeting

OPINION

Paul Hutcheon

The poll put the SNP on 35 per cent in the constituency vote and 30 per cent in the regional list.

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK are on 19 per cent in both the constituency vote and regional list.

A seat projection gives the SNP 60 seats, five short of the majority that first minister John Swinney says is needed for indyref2.

Reform would return 22 MSPs on these numbers, while Labour would have just 16 MSPs – a historic low.

Fifteen per cent of those polled said Sarwar’s quit call made them more likely to back Scottish Labour, with almost six in ten saying it will make no difference.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “This poll demonstrates that Anas Sarwar was right to be honest with Scots and they have responded positively to that.

“His only interest is in the future of Scotland and the next election is about who runs Scotland, our NHS, schools and public services.

But Professor Sir John Curtice, the UK’s top pollster, said the intervention on Starmer “may have even made things worse”.

He said: “Crucially, for the first time, slightly more (33 per cent) of those who voted Labour in 2024 now believe Sarwar is doing a bad job as Labour’s Scottish leader than feel he is doing a good one (30 per cent).

“Sarwar’s attempt on Monday to escape seemingly inevitable defeat in May has, it seems, left him, if anything, in an even weaker position to turn things around.”

Sarwar said on Friday he felt “liberated” after calling on the Prime Minister to resign.

He told the Sunday Mail the turning point was frustration at getting grilled by journalists on the Peter Mandelson row minutes after holding the SNP government to account on an NHS scandal.