SUPPORTERS of the Labour councillors in Aberdeen who were suspended for striking an unauthorised coalition deal with the Tories have launched a campaign demanding they be allowed back into the fold.
High-profile backers including MSP Lewis MacDonald – whose wife Sandra is one of the suspended councillors – former MP Anne Begg, and former Lord Provost George Adam joined activists to launch a petition calling for the “Aberdeen Nine” to be let back into the party “without further delay.“
Former Scottish Labour chief Kezia Dugdale suspended the councillors shortly after last year’s local elections, when they disobeyed instructions from party HQ forbidding them from forming an administration with Tory councillors.
The coalition between Labour, 11 Tory councillors and three independents kept the SNP — which had the largest number of seats on the council — out of power.
Labour’s Scottish Executive Committee has now passed responsibility for the ultimate decision on to the National Constitutional Committee, a subcommittee of the National Executive Committee. When it meets on July 3 it could kick the suspended councillors out of the party for good.
Long-time North East Labour member Professor Pennington started the petition because he says that at no time has Labour’s Scottish Executive Committee “offered any explanation for refusing approval to the coalition deal in Aberdeen.”
He argued that Scottish Labour “has no policy position for or against doing deals with either the Conservatives or the SNP.”
Pennington told reporters: “The best people to make local political judgments are local political leaders, and the people of Aberdeen are well-served by our local Labour councillors. Given the failure of the Scottish Executive Committee in Glasgow to resolve issues about Labour’s local leadership in Aberdeen which have never been explained, it falls to the National Executive Committee to put things right.
“My purpose is to give a voice to all those Labour members and supporters who agree, and who want to support the Aberdeen Nine.”
MSP Jenny Marra said that local councillors making local decisions should not be overruled by a committee in Glasgow.
She added: “Local democracy should be about local decision- making and supporting those who are committed to Labour values, many of them for decades, and delivering a Labour manifesto that serves the interests of working people.”
An Aberdeen Labour source told the Press and Journal newspaper there was an irony in the Scottish party pushing the decision on to the UK party.
“[This] is Scottish Labour acting like the branch office that it hates being called so much,” the insider told the paper.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel