Leonard under fire in Islamophobia case
JUSTICE Secretary Humza Yousaf has accused Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard of not taking racism seriously over the failure to punish an Islamophobic councillor.
Yousaf said Leonard should be “ashamed” to show his face at anti-racism rallies as nearly two years had elapsed since councillor Jim Dempster admitted abusing the SNP politician.
He said: “Richard Leonard has completely abdicated any responsibility for tackling Islamophobia.”
It emerged in 2018 that Dempster, a Labour councillor in Dumfries and Galloway, had made offensive remarks about Yousaf at a meeting with Transport Scotland.
A note showed officials challenging Dempster’s claim that Yousaf, at that point the Government’s Transport minister, did not have much regard for the south west.
Dempster responded by saying: “He may have been at Springholm but no one would have seen him under his burka.” The councillor, who apologised for the comment, was suspended by Labour.
On the eve of the second anniversary of the scandal, the party’s investigation is still ongoing, even though there was an admission. Disciplinary matters are for Labour at a UK level. In an interview with the Record, Yousaf expressed his anger at the lack of action.
Yousaf said he had contacted Leonard after the initial story broke but claimed the Scottish Labour leader had never reached out to him.
Scottish Labour would not comment on an ongoing disciplinary matter but said the party had expressed frustration at delays in this case.