THE councillors kicked out of Labour for going into coalition with the Tories should be allowed back into the party, Ian Murray has claimed.
The Edinburgh South MP, who is one of the frontrunners to become the UK party’s next deputy leader, said that despite their power sharing agreement with Boris Johnson’s elected representatives, the north east nine had “never stopped putting Labour values” into place in the local authority.
The group were suspended by then-Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale in May 2017.
Speaking at the time, she said Tory austerity risked “hurting so many families in Aberdeen”.
Yesterday, Murray said the issue has “dragged on for far too long”.
He said: “The local government coalition has adopted the Aberdeen Labour manifesto commitments, including its anti-poverty strategy.
“Despite being one of the lowest funded councils in the country, which has been further decimated by SNP cuts from Holyrood, the coalition has invested heavily in capital infrastructure projects and housing, spends more than the national average on education, and there have been no compulsory redundancies.
“The nine councillors, many of whom have been party members for decades, have never stopped putting Labour values into the governance of the city. It is time we as a party recognised that.”
The councillors also won the backing of Jackie Baillie.
Despite being suspended three years ago, UK Labour’s national disciplinary body has still not heard the case.
Kevin Stewart, the SNP MSP for Aberdeen Central, described the situation as a “complete embarrassment.”
He said “Labour might talk a good game on democracy and fighting Tory austerity, but they can’t be taken seriously with top leadership candidates lending their support to councillors who have propped up a right-wing Tory administration while Richard Leonard sits on his hands.”
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