As Labour gathers for its Scottish conference at the SEC in Glasgow, UK party leader Sir Keir Starmer will be hoping that the woes of a troubled week, where he had to sack not one, but two, candidates are now behind him.
Read more: Labour suspends second election candidate over Israel comments
Today, however, one of our readers predicts that Scots will not be taking Sir Keir to their hearts.
Ruth Marr of Stirling writes:
"Sir Keir Starmer has had a helluva long week in politics and it's not over yet. To dither and lose one parliamentary candidate in the middle of a by-election is a stunning own goal, to have to suspend another candidate, and a former MP at that, almost beggars belief.
"But even before all that, Sir Keir's refusal to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza has left many voters with queasy feelings about the Labour leader and the numerous U-turns, including ditching his pledge to invest £28 billion a year in the green economy, and similarities to Tory policies have left a whiff of Tweedledum and Tweedledee swirling round Sir Keir and his team.
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"As he visits his Scottish branch office's conference, Sir Keir will be aware that he is slipping in the opinion polls and the SNP is regaining ground.
"Anas Sarwar predictably insists that Scottish voters will be inspired by Sir Keir; but Labour took Scottish voters for mugs for decades and there are no signs that Scotland has taken Sir Keir to its heart.
"After all, Sir Keir is no Harold Wilson, he isn't even Tony Blair. I suspect that his long week in politics has only just begun."
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