Paul O'Hare

Anas Sarwar continues to support replacing the House of Lords with a democratically elected senate despite accepting a peerage to become Minister of State for Trade in Andy Burnham's government. He says his original ambition was to become Scotland's first minister but that he now wants to help the Labour government succeed. Sarwar also describes leading Scottish Labour as exceptionally difficult, acknowledges the party's communication problems and warns the three leadership contenders against internal infighting. Michael Marra, Joe Fagan and Monica Lennon are competing to replace him, with the new leader due to be chosen before the party conference on 19 September.

Anas Sarwar continues to support abolishing the House of Lords and replacing it with an elected senate of nations and regions, despite accepting a peerage to become Minister of State for Trade. He says his original ambition was to become Scotland’s first minister, but now wants to help the Labour government succeed. Sarwar also describes leading Scottish Labour as exceptionally difficult, acknowledges weaknesses in the party’s election campaign and warns the three leadership candidates against infighting. Monica Lennon, Michael Marra and Joe Fagan are competing to replace him, with the new leader expected to be in place by the party’s September conference.

Australian athlete Olli Hoare witnessed someone brandishing a weapon during a training run in Glasgow city centre, but GPS data showed the incident occurred the day after and at a different location from the murder of Paul McMinigal. Team Australia said it was working with Glasgow 2026 on athlete safety, while officials confirmed Hoare was well and there were no ongoing issues. Australian athletes were reportedly advised to train in small groups and avoid team uniforms, although BBC Scotland was told this is standard championship protocol rather than a Glasgow-specific warning. Hoare is due to compete in the Commonwealth Games mile alongside Scottish runners Josh Kerr, Jake Wightman and Neil Gourley, as well as Australia's Cameron Myers.