At a fiery session of First Minister’s questions, Nicola Sturgeon attacked Scottish Labour over what some commentators were already calling “Pish-gate”.
Sturgeon said it was a description that “covers much of what Jackie Baillie says in this chamber”.
Scottish Labour had erupted into civil war yesterday, with 'neutral' interim leader Alex Rowley caught on tape revealing a plot against former leader Kezia Dugdale, and backing pro-Corbyn candidate Richard Leonard.
READ MORE: The full story of Scottish Labour's Pish-gate
Jackie Baillie, who is backing the other contender Anas Sarwar, then hit back at Rowley, calling for for Leonard to “urgently answer questions about his role in this plot".
Leonard’s team then emailed out a response to journalists with the subject line: “coment (sic) on the latest Jackie Baillie pish”.
It left the First Minister with an open goal today. After Richard Leonard asked a question about bus passes, Sturgeon defended her record before hitting back at Labour. “That is the difference between the SNP and Labour,” she said. “We fight for Scotland, Scottish Labour just fights amongst themselves.
“I mean yesterday, it was incredible yesterday wasn’t it? We had Richard Leonard accused by Jackie Baillie of betraying every value that Labour holds dear. And then we had Richard Leonard saying that this was just the latest Jackie Baillie …”
At this point presiding officer Ken Macintosh stepped in. “First Minister …”
“I can’t actually say it presiding officer,” the FM continued, to much laughter. “Let’s just say it’s a description that covers much of what Jackie Baillie says in this chamber.”
Macintosh stepped in again, telling her to get back to the original question.
“This is a serious issue,” Sturgeon then said. “The serious issue is this: this government continues to take the decisions that are the interests of the people of Scotland. In contrast, Scottish Labour’s behaviour is selfish and self-indulgent. And it proves they are not fit to be an opposition, let alone a government.”
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