A LABOUR councillor has defected to the LibDems over her former party’s independence muddle.
Fiona Dryburgh of South Lanarkshire Council said Labour’s “weak” handling of Brexit and anti-Semitism scandal had also contributed to her decision to quit the party.
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson issued a video clip expressing his strident support for the Union after shadow chancellor and Jeremy Corbyn ally John McDonnell said the party would not block a second indyref if it returns to power at Westminster – something strongly opposed by Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard.
Ex-PM Gordon Brown said McDonnell had fallen into a “nationalist trap”, but McDonnell said Corbyn shares his position.
The Scottish arm of the party is now seeking a new general secretary following the resignation of long-serving Brian Roy.
Explaining her move, Dyburgh, who was elected to represent East Kilbride South in 2017, said: “My politics have not altered but the Labour Party has now moved to a place where I can no longer support them. I am vehemently opposed to Scottish independence and I firmly believe that Britain is better off in the EU. As a result I have now found a new home within the Liberal Democrats.
“I am proud to join a progressive party and naturally will continue to support my constituents to the best of my ability, as I have done for more than two years.”
In her resignation letter, she stated: “I have destroyed my membership card and cancelled my direct debit. Please pass the details of my resignation to the party headquarters.
“I would like to make it absolutely clear that I have no issues with any member of the Labour Group or the Constituency Labour Party.
“I am leaving as a direct consequence of both the direction in which the Labour Party is moving and the recent events that have occurred within the party.”
Dryburgh is the second South Lanarkshire councillor to join the LibDems in the space of three weeks. The first, Mark McGeever, left the Tories and branded Prime Minister Boris Johnson “totally unsuitable for high office”.
The change takes the total number of LibDem members on the council to three. Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie said Dryburgh “is representative of thousands of former Labour voters”, stating: “They have been offended by Labour’s decision to abandon Scotland in the UK and the EU. We are now their political home.”
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