Scottish Labour plunged into chaos this week after its own leader publicly demanded Keir Starmer’s resignation on the eve of the Holyrood election campaign. The fallout reached fever pitch at a tense Westminster meeting where Edinburgh East MP Chris Murray delivered a savage one-liner that left the room roaring with laughter.
Murray compared Anas Sarwar to Brooklyn Beckham, the eldest son of David and Victoria who recently aired a very public family feud on Instagram, accusing his parents of trying to control him and undermine his marriage to Nicola Peltz.
One MP who was present told the Daily Record: “Chris just said, ‘This is Anas’s Brooklyn Beckham moment’ and the whole room lost it. It was brutal but absolutely spot-on. Everyone knows exactly what he meant.”
Sarwar’s Shock Intervention
On Monday, Sarwar stunned Westminster by declaring that Keir Starmer should stand down before the Holyrood election in May.
Speaking to journalists in Edinburgh, the Scottish Labour leader said the UK Government had made “serious mistakes” on the economy, public services and the winter fuel cut that had hammered pensioners.
“The Prime Minister needs to listen to the country,” Sarwar said. “New leadership is required if we are going to win back trust.”
The intervention came just 48 hours before Scottish Labour’s campaign launch and blindsided many of Starmer’s closest allies.
Westminster Meeting Turns Toxic
Scottish Labour MPs and peers were hurriedly summoned to a conference room in Portcullis House on Tuesday afternoon.
Sources describe the atmosphere as “electric” and “like a family row that had been building for months”.
Several MPs expressed fury that Sarwar had gone public without any consultation. One said: “We’re meant to be one party, not two separate operations. This felt like a leadership bid dressed up as principle.”
That was when Chris Murray dropped his now-infamous line.
“Chris stood up and said Anas was having his Brooklyn Beckham moment, throwing his toys out of the pram because things weren’t going his way,” another source present revealed.
“The comparison was perfect. Brooklyn went on Instagram throwing shade at his own parents. Anas has just done the same to Keir on the eve of an election.”
The Brooklyn Beckham Parallel Everyone Instantly Understood
For weeks, Brooklyn Beckham has been posting cryptic messages suggesting his famous parents were trying to sabotage his relationship with wife Nicola Peltz.
Commentators branded the 25-year-old “petulant” and “entitled” for publicly attacking the very people who built his privileged life.
Murray’s joke instantly landed because the parallel was painfully obvious to everyone in the room.
Just as Brooklyn appeared to bite the hand that fed him, Sarwar was publicly attacking the Labour Prime Minister who had campaigned tirelessly for him during the 2021 Holyrood leadership contest.
Scottish Labour Now Split Down the Middle
The party is now openly divided.
Most Scottish Labour MSPs have rallied behind Sarwar, with several privately telling journalists they agree Starmer has become an electoral liability north of the border.
But Westminster MPs are overwhelmingly loyal to the Prime Minister who delivered them their seats last July.
One Scottish Labour MP said: “Anas has just handed the SNP their attack lines on a plate. They’re going to spend the entire campaign saying Labour is divided and in chaos. He’s made our job ten times harder.”
Another added: “This isn’t leadership. This is ego.”
Murray Plays Down the Joke
When approached by the Record, Chris Murray insisted his comment was meant in jest.
“To explain the background context, I wouldn’t say either Anas or Brooklyn Beckham did anything petulant or disrespectful,” the MP said.
“They did make surprising interventions that captured everyone’s attention though!”
But sources insist the laughter in the room told its own story. One said: “Chris knew exactly what he was doing. Sometimes a joke lands because it’s true.”
The bitter row exposes the growing fault line between Scottish Labour’s Holyrood operation and its Westminster cohort, a divide that has existed since devolution but rarely exploded so publicly.
With just weeks until the Holyrood election, Sarwar’s gamble has either positioned him as the brave truth-teller who can rescue Labour’s campaign or the reckless troublemaker who just torpedoed it.
Either way, Scottish Labour’s civil war is now out in the open, and the Brooklyn Beckham jibe will follow Anas Sarwar for a very long time.
What do you think? Is Sarwar right to speak out, or has he just handed victory to the SNP? Drop your thoughts below.
