ANAS Sarwar has said that the Tories are the "biggest threat" to the Union, rejecting the idea that Douglas Ross's party is the safest anti-independence vote.

Speaking at a question and answer session after he gave what was billed as his first “major” speech as Scottish Labour leader, Sarwar claimed the Tories "are the reason why our country is so divided".

He said that the SNP and the Conservatives are "two sides of the same coin", adding that both parties “want to focus on division”.

Sarwar said: “The idea that Boris Johnson’s Tories are the strongest asset to keeping our United Kingdom together is simply not true.

“They are the reason why our country is so divided, they are the reason why we have heightening inequality in our society and in many ways, they are the biggest threat to the United Kingdom.”

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The new Scottish Labour leader also answered questions on his decision to challenge the First Minister for her Glasgow Southside constituency, announced over the weekend.

Asked by The National if he genuinely expected to win considering Nicola Sturgeon’s majority of almost 10,000 votes, Sarwar largely avoided the question.

Echoing comments he has previously made, Sarwar said: “Glasgow Southside may be Nicola Sturgeon’s constituency, but it’s my home. Just like the Labour party is my home.”

He went on: “I want to rebuild the Labour Party across the country so we have the opportunity to rebuild the country we love. I’m not wanting to be parachuted somewhere else, like previous leaders have been, instead I want to stand in my own local community, in the heart of my local community.”

Sarwar said he aimed to persuade voters in the Glasgow constituency “that Labour is back on the pitch, to persuade them that Labour’s back on their side, and to persuade them with that message of optimism and hope and unity for our country that I hope can be reflected across the country as well".

Asked how he would respond if voters were not persuaded by his arguments and he lost to the First Minister, Sarwar said: “Well I’m going to be asking and seeking their support over the next eight weeks and we will have that argument and those discussions over the next eight weeks and we’ll see what the local communities decide.

“I would remind people though that Nicola Sturgeon did stand on four occasions in that constituency, once as an MP and three times for the Scottish Parliament, and she lost on three out of the four occasions. She didn’t give up, she kept fighting.

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“I’m in politics to never give up for what I believe in and to fight for the values I believe in and I believe in a national recovery for our country and that’s what I’m going to focus on.”

Sarwar’s assertion is not quite correct. Technically, Nicola Sturgeon has won the Glasgow Southside constituency every time it has voted.

The constituency came into existence in the 2011 Holyrood election and saw Sturgeon win with 54.4% of the vote. She increased her vote share in 2016, winning 61.4%.

Previously, she had won the Glasgow Govan constituency in 2007, narrowly beating Labour’s Gordon Jackson by 9010 votes to 8266.

Voters in Glasgow Govan were divided between Glasgow Pollok and Glasgow Southside when the constituency was abolished in 2011.

Sturgeon lost out to Jackson in Glasgow Govan’s electoral race in 2003 and 1999, but entered the Scottish Parliament after both elections thanks to her place on the SNP's regional list.

Sturgeon also ran in Glasgow Govan’s Westminster constituency in 1997, when she came second to the new Scottish Labour leader’s father, Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar.

She also contested Glasgow Shettleston in 1992 but lost after the Labour candidate took more than 60% of the vote.

The result of Sarwar’s contest with Sturgeon over the Southside constituency is unlikely to impact his chances of being re-elected to the Scottish Parliament. He currently has second place on his party’s regional list for the city, which last time returned four Labour MSPs.

Sarwar volunteered to be the party’s second choice in the Glasgow region to allow fellow MSP Pauline McNeill to top the list and to provide gender balance across the party’s selection.

READ MORE: Anas Sarwar gives up top spot to ensure gender balance in regional list

Speaking today, Sarwar also insisted he was focused on “uniting our country, not dividing our country” and reiterated the fact that he is against both independence and Scotland holding a referendum on its constitutional future.

He said he wants to begin to “rebuild” Scottish Labour, and that their manifesto going into the Holyrood elections will be a “national recovery plan”, focusing on the health service, education, jobs, communities and the environment.

The new party leader used his speech to call for a “personal comeback plan” and a mental health assessment for all Scottish pupils when they return to school following lockdown.

He said all schoolchildren’s progress and mental welfare must be assessed as part of the coronavirus recovery.

However, Sarwar was forced to admit that he had not costed the plan, although he said “the reality is it is going to cost hundreds of millions of pounds”.

He argued that it could be funded with the non-recurring funding received from the UK Government during the pandemic.

“We should be using that money, hundreds of millions of pounds, to actually invest in our young people – that should be a national priority,” he said.