ANAS Sarwar has been asked to justify why councillors in his party have entered a “full coalition” with the Tories in one local authority.
The Scottish Labour group in North Lanarkshire have come under fire for working with Tory councillors and one British Unionist Party member to oust the scandal-rocked SNP administration which lasted just three months.
Former leader Jordan Linden resigned after allegations of sexual harassment were made against him and he admitted his actions at a party in 2019 had caused “a sense of discomfort”.
Two SNP councillors left the party and joined Labour over the storm, boosting their numbers to 34 which put the parties on an equal pegging.
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Fulton MacGregor, the SNP MSP for Coatbridge and Chryston, has now written to Sarwar demanding an explanation of why Labour has allowed Tory councillors to take senior positions on the local authority.
He said the Conservatives were the “architects of the cost-of-living crisis” facing the country and asked why Sarwar had taken no action to penalise Labour members for being voted into an administration by the Tories.
He wrote: “I understand from conversations with my colleagues in the SNP group that several attempts [were made] to open negotiations with the Labour leadership in North Lanarkshire, and were consistently told that you, as party leader would not permit any sort of deal with the SNP.
My letter to Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, following the absurd and once upon a time incomprehensible formation of a Labour-Tory administration in North Lanarkshire👇 https://t.co/nTooFgK9Im pic.twitter.com/jvsXiTdOqe
— Fulton MacGregor MSP (@fultonsnp) August 28, 2022
“I wonder if you would explain, therefore, why you are permitting a full coalition with the Conservative Party?
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“It is important to remember that the Conservative party are the architects of the cost-of-living crisis that all of our constituents currently face.
“North Lanarkshire becomes the latest in a long list of local authorities in Scotland that is now run by a Labour and Conservative administrations, despite your promise to the people of Scotland that your party would not work with the Conservatives.
"My constituents are keen to hear your thoughts, and your justification, for this grubby deal between your Labour party and the right-wing Tories.”
MacGregor also raised concerns about the gender balance of the council administration now it was run by Labour, saying more senior roles had been filled by women when the SNP were in charge.
The female depute provost was replaced by Bob Burgess, a Tory councillor for Wishaw, while the SNP’s Tracy Carragher was blocked from taking over from Linden when he resigned by a Unionist voting bloc.
MacGregor said that 60% of Conservative councillors now held senior positions in the running of the council.
Councillor Sandy Watson, the leader of the Conservative group, was made convener of the key audit and scrutiny committee, while Councillor Gordon Currie was appointed vice convener of planning.
Scottish Labour were approached for comment.
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