ONE of the top trade union leaders in Scotland has delivered a scathing critique of Richard Leonard and the Scottish Labour party.
GMB Scotland chief Gary Smith has blasted Leonard's leadership, claiming he has failed on Brexit and on tackling anti-Semitism.
Smith stated that the party's strategy seemed to be "riding on the coat-tails" of Jeremy Corbyn, and even went as far as saying that he was considering leaving the party despite the GMB union being a contributor to Labour's coffers.
The turn is especially damning as Richard Leonard worked for GMB for over 20 years before becoming an MSP, and accepted £12,000 from them during the leadership contest.
Speaking to The Herald on Sunday, Smith attacked the Scottish party’s Brexit stance.
He said: “Where is Labour’s offer in Scotland? Where is Labour recognising the fact that the people in this country voted to stay? I think there was a way of bringing that to life.”
“Their failure to find a way of articulating where Scotland is on Brexit is certainly going to cost them votes.”
When asked if he was surprised that Scottish Labour had sunk to third place in Holyrood, he responded that he wasn't, concluding "They’ve got nothing coherent or clear to say on the big issue of the day".
Smith summed up what he regards as a key Scottish Labour shortcoming: “My concern is the whole strategy just seems to be riding on the coat-tails of Corbyn into power.”
He added: “It is a recipe for failure.”
Finally, Smith concluded “On a whole number of issues, frankly, Labour just hasn’t been credible, doesn’t speak to working people, but talks at them.”
A spokesperson for Scottish Labour said: "We have been trying to break the Brexit gridlock with a credible alternative plan to protect jobs, industries and workers' rights, and will keep pressing for a general election or a public vote to prevent a damaging Tory Brexit.
"There is absolutely no place for anti-Semitism in the Labour movement or any walk of life, and we are committed to rooting it out of our party and wider society.
"As a proud anti-austerity party, we are committed to strengthening our trade unions, ending low pay and banning exploitative zero-hours contracts. These are the kind of policies that in 2017 led Labour to our biggest increase in vote share since 1945 and we will not be going back on them."
The comments come ahead of the party's conference in Dundee this week. Corbyn will be speaking at the event, scheduled to take place just days before the Brexit vote in Westminster.
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