IAN Murray refused to appear on the BBC on Monday morning to discuss his own attacks on Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The former Scottish secretary had earned headlines after hitting out at the manner in which he was removed from the Cabinet position by the UK Labour leader in early September – saying he had been subjected to “public humiliation”.
Speaking to Holyrood magazine, he further said his wife had been “f***ing furious” and that he had still been given no explanation for his firing – despite “asking on a number of occasions".
BBC Scotland on Monday morning said they had asked Murray to speak on the show, “but he declined”.
Instead, Daily Record political editor Paul Hutcheon – whose paper backs Labour – appeared on the BBC radio show.
Hutcheon alleged that Murray’s firing had been a “joint operation by the Prime Minister and the team around Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar”.
He went on: “There was definitely a feeling that Ian Murray, whether this is correct or not, didn't spend enough time in Scotland, that Anas Sarwar's team wanted a more hands-on Scottish secretary leading the party into the next Holyrood election.
“And also, I heard that Keir Starmer never particularly rated Ian Murray.
“Now I think that's quite harsh. Ian Murray's got political skills. He's a very, very accomplished politician. But he was never Keir Starmer's top guy. I think he always felt like he inherited Ian Murray.”
Murray had been Labour’s sole Scottish MP elected in two General Elections – in 2015 and 2019.
READ MORE: Ian Murray releases statement after being sacked as Scottish secretary
After anger greeted his firing as Scottish secretary, he was given two junior ministerial roles a couple of days later.
Speaking to Holyrood magazine, Murray said that when offered the two ministerial posts – in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology – he took five hours to consider whether to accept them.
“My big questions about coming back into Government were, why was it not offered to me at the time – and it wasn’t – why has the decision now been made and why?” he said.
“If I’m not good enough for the Scotland Office, why am I now number two in two major UK departments?”
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