Yousaf offers talks with 'next prime minister' Starmer

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf has offered to hold talks with Sir Keir Starmer about working together if Labour win the next general election.

The SNP leader said he was "absolutely sure" that his party would win the most seats in Scotland and it was inevitable that Sir Keir would be prime minister.

He said he was "very willing" to work with a Labour government and had invited Sir Keir to Edinburgh.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar described his election plan as bizarre.

Mr Yousaf told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show: "I think there's plenty we can work on.

"There'll be disagreements, the constitution perhaps being the obvious one, but I do think there's plenty of areas we could work on."

When asked about what policy areas they could co-operate on, the SNP leader said Labour should and commit to scrapping the two-child benefit limit.

"In doing so, he would lift 250,000 children out of poverty across the UK, 15,000 children here in Scotland," said Mr Yousaf.

"Let's scrap the bedroom tax, which is keeping too many people in poverty."

The first minister said Sir Keir was "20 to 25% ahead in the polls" and that he "does not need Scotland to win".

He insisted that the only way to "wipe the Tories off the map" in Scotland was for voters to back the SNP.

And he insisted that "support for independence is absolutely rock solid".

Ten years on from the Scottish independence referendum, Laura Kuenssberg asked Mr Yousaf if he accepted another vote was not going to happen any time soon.

The first minister denied that and said: "I want the SNP to win the general election to help to send a really strong message to Westminster that Scotland will not be ignored."

Mr Yousaf, who succeeded Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader and Scotland's first minister in March 2023, also defended Scotland's "progressive" tax system, despite Conservative claims that many Scots are now paying more than people in the rest of the UK

He said the SNP was asking the top 5% of earners "to pay a little more" so that policies such as free university education and childcare services could be provided.

Mr Yousaf said he believed people "will recognise that we've prioritised public services over tax cuts for the wealthy".

The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, hit back at what he called the SNP's "completely chaotic messaging" on voting in the upcoming election.

Speaking on BBC Scotland's Sunday Show, he said: "They seem to have gone in a matter of weeks from saying you don't need to vote Labour because they can't win in England to now saying you don't need to vote for Labour because they can't lose in England.

"Polls are going to narrow, polls are going to tighten. We could be months away from an election. That's what happens in an election campaign, is that the argument gets more face to face.

"We should always believe we can still lose and we should also always believe that we don't own any voters.

"How bizarre that you have the SNP saying that Scottish votes don't matter. Every Scottish vote matters."

Scottish Conservative party chairman Craig Hoy said: "This was another interview where Humza Yousaf confirmed independence will be page one, line one of the SNP manifesto.

"Instead of pursuing their obsession with breaking up the UK, the SNP should focus on the people's real priorities: growing the economy to help Scotland's ailing public services.

"The first minister once again refused to accept that his high-tax regime is preventing that - despite business groups warning repeatedly that the widening tax gap with the rest of the UK is deeply damaging our competitiveness and risks driving away key workers."