Sarwar’s BAME plea to his party
ANAS Sarwar is demanding ethnic minorities be given an official say on how Scottish Labour are run.
The Glasgow MSP wants a space on the ruling Scottish Executive Committee reserved for black, Asian and minority ethnic members (BAME).
He also wants the party to set up an independent hotline for members to report incidents of racist prejudice or abuse.
Sarwar claimed on Monday that Labour councillor Davie McLachlan refused to support his leadership bid because voters would see him as a “brown, Muslim Paki”.
McLachlan – the Labour group leader on South Lanarkshire Council – denies the claims and has been suspended by the party pending an investigation.
Sarwar also claims another Labour member said they could not vote for him because his wife wore a hijab – an Islamic headscarf.
Now Sarwar is to write to Scottish general secretary Brian Roy pointing out that UK Labour’s National Executive Committee have a space reserved for ethnic minorities.
He said: “It is a matter of deep regret that there is currently no BAME representation on the governing body of our party in Scotland.
“The Scottish party should take immediate steps to resolve this.”
Scottish Labour said: “The make-up of the SEC is a matter for members and as such suggestions from members to make it more representative will always be considered.”